Haraguroi Himitsu Evil Secret
by XxSoulNoteWriterxX
Summary: Two brothers, alone with a powerful kekkai genkai go travelling for prey, strengthening their abilities. What happens when they fail to satisfy their powers? Rated M for goooooore ...and violence. :P
1. Chapter 1

**_~*~ PROLOGUE ~*~_**

_"Masaru, are you awake?" Kenji whispered from his bed, parallel to Masaru's in their small shared bedroom. The moon shone through the window, lighting up the floor between their beds._

_Masaru groaned and flipped over onto his stomach. "What d-do you want, Kenji?" He yawned._

_"I can't sleep." Kenji murmured and groaned as he rolled over onto his side, facing the wall._

_Masaru sighed and opened his scarlet shaded eyes to look at his younger brother's back. "What do you expect me to do?"_

_Kenji shook his head and grunted, pulling his knee's to his chest. "M-Masaru…It…It hurts."_

_Masaru sighed and sat up, stretching his arms above his head. "What hurts, Kenji?"_

_"Haraguroi Himitsu…" Kenji whispered and winced in pain. He could feel the kekkei genkai slowly taking over his body as it burned his skin. Masaru had already passed through this stage, and his parents told Kenji that it wouldn't last a very long time, but that it would indeed hurt for a while._

_Masaru frowned and quickly made his way to Kenji's bed and sat on the edge of it. He placed his hand on Kenji's shoulder. "Just breathe…"_

_Kenji sucked in a sharp breath and turned to sit up. His eyes had changed from the violet shade to black as he stared at his brother. "B-brother…" He murmured, half in pain, and half with an eerie tone._

_Masaru's eyes widened as he slowly moved to his feet. "K-Kenji… f-fight it…"_

_Kenji's eyes narrowed as he tilted his head to look up at his brother. "It's…too late, Masaru." Kenji pushed himself from the bed, tackling Masaru down on his bed as he shoved his hands down on Masaru's chest. "You've fought me for too long." Kenji hissed._

_"Y-You're supposed to!" Masaru gasped, shocked by the strength his younger brother had._

_Kenji shook his head and leaned down towards his brother's face, letting out a long breath of air. A thick black gas emitted from Kenji's mouth and travelled down into Masaru's, climbing down his throat._

_"No fighting anymore."_

_Masaru gasped as his back arched in pain. His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to fight against the Kekkei Genkai slowly taking over his body. Masaru's eyes snapped back open, his eyes no longer red, but black, emotionless orbs._

_Kenji smirked and slowly climbed off his brother. "I…win."_

_The door opened to Kenji and Masaru's bedroom as their parents ran into the room._

_"Kenji, Masaru, are you alright?" Their mother gasped, checking around the room for an intruder. It wasn't uncommon for strangers to break into house in the Land of Demons. This land was high with crimes. They had heard a thunk coming from their sons' room, and went to check what had happened._

_Kenji and Masaru stood in the middle of the room, staring at their parents._

_"Kenji…Masaru…" Their father spoke cautiously as he eyed their sons carefully; he recognized the black eyes and knew immediately what happened - after all, it had happened to his very own brother._

_"Evening.. Father…" Masaru smirked. "We didn't wake you… did we?"_

_Their parents looked at each other for a moment, and their mother began to crying silently, taking a step back. "Masaru…why? You've already tamed the Haraguroi Himitsu." He spoke._

_Masaru laughed, his voice eerie and cold. "It's better this way…"_

_He shook his head. "No, Masaru, you know it's not the right thing."_

_Masaru glanced over at his younger brother. "Is it just me… or are they getting annoying?"_

_Kenji smirked and turned to his brother. "You see it just as I do."_

_Their father narrowed his eyes at his two young sons and turned to frown at his wife. "I'm sorry, Aki." He whispered and turned to look at the sons. Their mother began to sob and ran from the room, collapsing to her knee's in the hallway._

_Their father made a few hand seals and closed his eyes. "I love you, Kenji and Masaru." He whispered. A dark aura surrounded their father, stretching outwards, surrounding the two sons._

_Masaru looked around at the aura and laughed. "How dumb do you think we are, old man!"_

_Their father tightened his eyes shut, the darkness moving quickly and wrapping itself around the two. Kenji glanced at Masaru and back at his father. "No, father." He murmured and narrowed his eyes. The darkness began to retreat and a thick black spike shot through their father's chest._

_He gasped in pain and collapsed to his knee's. "W-what?"_

_Kenji sighed and shook his head. "Pathetic." He murmured, turning to his brother._

_Masaru looked at their father before walking towards the door. "Kenji… finish him. I'll take care of her…"_

_Kenji nodded and walked over to his father, kneeling down and pushing his hand into his fathers back. "See yah." He murmured as his body was wrapped in a black thickness that slowly disappeared with his body._

_Masaru slowly approached his mother with a smirk. His eyes locked on her as he slowly lifted his hands. "You've always been a pathetic excuse for a shinobi, mother…"_

_Aki turned around with her eyes widened. "W-what?" She gasped, turning on her knee's to look at her son. "I-Itsuki…What happened to him?"_

_Masaru smirked. "He's been taken care of… Shinobi are not meant to show emotion. It makes them vulnerable. You shouldn't even wear that headband… so, I'm doing you a favour…" He stated before flicking his wrist towards his mother, darkness suddenly forming around her. "Goodbye…" He lifted his other wrist and flicked it out. Spikes came from every direction and penetrated his mothers vital points._

_She gasped in pain as her eyes closed, her body limping lifelessly and falling to the ground once the darkness disappeared. Kenji walked casually out of their bedroom and leaned against the door frame. "It's about time."_

_Masaru turned to face Kenji with a smirk. "I figured I should give her a piece of advice first."_

_Kenji smirked and nodded. "She was a pathetic excuse any-" He gasped as his eyes flickered back to normal and he looked around with terror, back and forth between his father and mother. His eyes turned back to black again and he shook the sudden emotion. "M…Masaru?"_

_Masaru shrugged and turned around to head outside to the patio, looking out to the lake. "Do you want me to kill you as well? Do not go back to your emotional self…"_

_Kenji shook his head again. "I…I don't know what happened."_

_Masaru shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly collapsed to his knees in pain. Blood spilt from his mouth as he fell onto his side. Kenji's brow lifted and he made his way over to stand beside Masaru. "You're showing your weakness."_

_Masaru's breath came out in sharp gasps as he gritted his teeth in pain. "K-Ken… j-ji…"_

_Kenji rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of Masaru. He looked at his eyes and saw that Masaru's eyes had returned to their scarlet shade. Kenji shook his head and reached out to grab his neck when his hand began to shake. His eyes flickered back to their violet colour, and he gasped in pain, collapsing down onto Masaru. "I'm…sorry." He winced and gritted his teeth._

_"W-We… n-need t-to r-run…" He gasped. "A-As soon a-as the priestess f-finds out… w-we will be hunted…"_

_Kenji nodded and weakly pushed himself off his brother. "I don't think we could get far enough like this."_

_Masaru shook his head as he weakly pulled himself into a sitting position. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Kenji before pulling him into an embrace. "I-I'm so sorry… this is all my fault…"_

_Kenji shook his head and drew his knee's into his chest. "No, it wasn't. I-I'm still weak." He murmured._

_Masaru pulled back and held Kenji's face in his hands. "I-I will help you get stronger… so this never happens again… okay? You believe me… right, Kenji?"_

_Tears fell from Kenji's eyes and he nodded slowly. "But…it t-took over you because of me."_

_Masaru shook his head. "I-I can fight it… I-I didn't try hard enough." He closed his eyes as tears slipped from his lids. "W-We will learn to control th-this thing together…"_

_Kenji let out a sob and wrapped his arms around his older brother. "A-alright."_


	2. Chapter 2

"Masaru!" Kenji whispered loudly as he threw a twig at his sleeping older brother. The fire was starting to die down slowly, and the woods slowly became darker and darker with each passing minute.

Masaru sat straight up with a kunai tightly in his grasp. When he realized there were no enemies, he lowered his hand and looked at Kenji. "D-Don't scare me like that…" he hissed before laying back down, running a hand through his odd coloured hair. "What do you want?"

"Scared?" Kenji shook his head. "The fire is dying, I'm going to head out for more branches; didn't want you to worry if you woke up and I wasn't around." He winked and stood up, stretching and heading into the woods.

Masaru rolled his eyes as he looked up at the stars, listening as he heard Kenji walk off, singing to himself.

"Furimuita sono ushiro no; shoumen daare? Kurayami ni tsume o tatete - yoru o hikisaita. Amadare wa chi no shizuku to natte hoho o tsutai ochiru. Mou doko ni mo kaeru basho ga nai nara." Kenji sang into the darkness as he walked along, leaning down to pick up branches.

Masaru smirked and laughed before echoing the lyrics back. "Behind where I looked back; Who's in the front? In the dark, I sank in my nails - and tore apart the night. The raindrops turn into droplets of blood and travel down my cheeks. If there's no place for me to return to anywhere anymore."

Kenji closed his eyes partly and chuckled. "I thought you didn't like to sing, brother." His voice echoed through the tree's, retreating to Masaru's ears clearly.

Masaru shrugged and laughed. "I don't mind it once in a while."

Kenji shrugged and continued on. "Kono yubi tomare watashi no yubi ni. Sono yubi goto tsurete tte ageru. Higurashi ga naku akazu no mori e. Atomodori wa mou dekinai."

Masaru smiled and he moved his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, echoing back again. "Take these fingers, my fingers. I'll take you away with all of your fingers. To the unopened forest where cicadas cry. I can't turn back anymore."

Kenji returned to where Masaru still laid on the ground beside the fire. He carefully placed the branches into the fire; it didn't take long for the fire to burn brighter again.

"Being extinguished one by one; the blue flames." Kenji murmured.

"Beyond the darkness, the morning won't come anymore." Masaru sang back.

"Inside the mirror, with countless wriggling hands reaching out." Kenji sang a bit louder.

"Come on, lure someone here." Masaru smirked, catching Kenji's gaze.

Kenji smirked back and leaned back. "How long has it been, brother?"

Masaru closed his eyes. "Hm… a few days I believe… not too many people travel these paths."

Kenji sighed. "Why don't we travel to one of the major lands?"

Masaru laughed. "Like what, The Land of Fire? I suppose we could, I mean… I'm up for a challenge… and I'm always hearing that there are good shinobi there."

Kenji smiled and closed his eyes. "Perfect."

Silence settled between the two and not too long after, Masaru fell back asleep. Two hours after midnight, Kenji allowed the fire to die, and he went to sleep himself. As soon as the sun had risen past the horizon, Kenji's eyes opened and he sat up. Masaru still slept to his right and Kenji sighed. He hardly ever got a decent night of sleep, and he envied Masaru for that reason.

Masaru stirred in his sleep, rolling over onto his stomach with a grunt. He yawned as he opened one eye to glance at his younger brother who was already sitting up. "Can't sleep again?" Masaru asked with another yawn.

Kenji sighed and shook his head. "Never can." He slowly got to is feet and squinted in the sun's direction. "To the Land of Fire?"

Masaru sighed and nodded as he moved to a sitting position, running his hand through his shaggy hair. His other hand rested on his chest to feel one of the many scars covering his body. "It's a long walk. We may need to stop a few times…"

Kenji nodded and smirked at his brothers double meaning. "Of course, we can't just let people pass us with showing them who we are."

Masaru smiled and looked up to his brother. "I think we've done well since everything occurred ten years ago…"

Kenji nodded as he reached for his cloak and pulled it on. He pulled up the mask hanging around his neck just above his nose and turned to look at Masaru. "How can they forget about the red-cloaked - scarred dual pair?" Kenji smirked.

Masaru laughed slightly as he moved to his feet. "I don't think it's possible. I'm sure we're almost as feared as the Akatsuki… if not more." He smirked as he picked up his backpack.

Kenji let out a laugh and pulled up his hood, thinking back to the first pair of pathetic Akatsuki members their leader had sent to force them to join that pitiful group. They posed no threat to the brothers, but they allowed one to escape to report to their leader the fear of what possessed the Shi brothers.

"You think they'll send more?" Kenji laughed.

"If that pathetic leader of theirs is smart, they won't, but we both know they're not smart." He laughed and moved to his brothers side. "I'm sure he'll try again soon. Maybe this time it'll be a challenge…" He smirked.

Kenji rolled his eyes. "That'd be a surprise. Ready?"

Masaru nodded. "Always."

The two of them left for the Land of Fire with high expectations of their Shinobi. It took a few hours for the brothers to reach the land, and as they walked around, Kenji began to smile.

"I don't think we've ever been to this land, Masaru." Kenji laughed. "Completely different from the Land of Demons."

Masaru laughed and nodded. "It has a… happy feeling… I dislike it highly…"

Kenji rolled his eyes and looked at his brother. "Of course. Learn to enjoy it, Masaru… seeing as we will destroy it."

Masaru shrugged. "I'm not after the village, just its Shinobi…"

Kenji shrugged. "If I didn't like the travelling so much, I'd say let's destroy the entire villages people and take it for our own dwellings."

Masaru laughed. "In good time, little brother. I want to get a good fill of travelling before we claim a village as our own."

Kenji smiled and lifted his eyes up to the sun. "I don't like this land, though." He turned his head down to look ahead and spotted two figures in the distance, walking away from them.

"Masaru…it's our first kill in the Land of Fire."

Masaru nodded. "How you want to go about this one, bro? Quick and easy? Or slow and difficult?"

Kenji shrugged. "How about we enjoy ourselves? We'll go with slow and difficult; I like a challenge - if they'll pose one."

Masaru shrugged and nodded. "Which one you want? The blonde or raven?"

Kenji looked between the two shinobi. "The…" He narrowed his eyes. "I'll go with the raven."

Masaru shrugged and nodded. "Alright, I'll take the blonde… he looks easy anyway."

Kenji laughed. "Alright."

"Well, seeing as we haven't had Ramen in a while, I guess I'll accompany you." Shikamaru shrugged, reaching his hands behind his head.

Naruto grinned. "Really Shikamaru? That'd be awesome!"

Shikamaru nodded and looked up to the sky. He squinted as the sun came out from behind a cloud and blind him. He shielded his eyes and turned them back down to the ground. "Troublesome." He sighed and slowed down to a stop. "Naruto…do you feel something?"

Naruto blinked in surprise as he came to a stop beside Shikamaru. "N-No… why?"

Shikamaru looked around the area carefully and widened his eyes. Quickly, he pushed Naruto back as a spike past between them where Naruto once stood. A chuckle came from their right and the two Shinobi turned to see two males; one in a red-cloak with a black mask, and another with bandages covering parts of his face with scars littering his body. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at he two.

"Naruto…" He murmured under his breath and glanced at the male. "It's the Shi brothers."

Naruto kept his eyes narrowed on the red-cloaked male. "Wh-Who are they?" He asked quietly.

Shikamaru paused for a moment as he stared blankly at Naruto. "…The Shi brothers."

Naruto shrugged. "Never heard of them before…"

"Never heard of us? Lame." The scarred male chuckled.

Kenji sighed. "I guess it's time to leave our mark on this dumb blonde."

Masaru nodded. "I actually feel offended." He smirked.

Shikamaru's lips parted and he shook his head. "Naruto," Shikamaru motioned towards the hooded male. "That's Kenji Shi," He motioned to the other beside Kenji. "And that's Masaru Shi." He murmured.

"I still don't get the big deal. They look bozo's to me…" Naruto stated.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed. He hadn't expected Naruto to understand Shikamaru's reasoning, but the blonde was going to get them killed. "Naruto, they're two of the strongest Shinobi in our world. You're going to get us killed if you continue to talk."

Naruto glanced over at Shikamaru and smirked. "Strongest Shinobi? They clearly have never heard of me!"

Masaru raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What an idiot… how dumb is he?" He murmured to Kenji.

"It's such a shame that the world knows about Naruto Uzumaki without him having to make his mark, but we've been doing it for ten years now, and our name isn't as known." Kenji sighed.

"Y-You know my name?" Naruto asked, shocked.

Masaru laughed. "Of course. You're the nine-tails Jinchuriki. You're the person the Akatsuki is after…" Masaru's eyes widened as he looked to Kenji. "I have an idea… what if we take him before Pain? He'd sure be mad…" He smirked.

Kenji's lips slowly turned into a smirk as he eyed Naruto. "I think it's brilliant. We'll show that pathetic loser whose stronger."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "Naruto, we have to get back to the village. We are in no position to fight back, especially since it's only the two of us."

Naruto looked from Shikamaru then back to the brothers. "B-But they don't look like they're gonna let us go…"

Masaru laughed. "Good boy… you're starting to catch on."

Shikamaru shook his head. "How troublesome." He murmured as he watched the two enemies carefully. "We'll have to fight for a way of escape." He whispered.

Naruto nodded as he looked back to the brothers. Masaru smirked as he pulled out a kunai. "I'm ready, are you, Kenji?"

Kenji stepped away from his brother a few steps and nodded. "Raven, you're mine."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes on Kenji. "Naruto, we have to keep these two together. If we separate from each other, we will be vulnerable. Remember, team work."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Have any plans?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I'm thinking through a few plans. I may have one that will work. When I give the signal, retreat towards the village."

Naruto nodded as he pulled his hands together. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

About five more Naruto's appeared and surrounded the area. Masaru laughed. "This is pathetic!"

Kenji shrugged. "At least it's one to five. I only have one - what a shame." He turned to Shikamaru and waved. "Oh well, we'll have fun, won't we?"

Shikamaru remained silent as he searched through his mind about everything he had learned of the Shi brother's. Not much was known since no one had really escaped to report, but Shikamaru knew enough.

Kenji shrugged and placed his hands together in a seal. "Forbidden Summoning Technique: Fire Rats." A bunch of rats engulfed in fire came running out of the nearby bush and charged at Shikamaru. Shikamaru's eyes widened as he jumped up into the tree nearby. It didn't really do anything, because when the rats came after him t the tree, the tree began to light on fire quickly. He quickly jumped from the tree to the ground and jumped away from the chasing rats. He ran to some nearby water and jumped into the river, the rats chasing quickly. They jumped towards Shikamaru and landed on his clothing. He quickly swatted them into the water and dunked under to stop the fire.

Kenji was laughing as Shikamaru came from the river soaking wet. "Pathetic."

Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "You're bothersome."

Masaru smirked at Shikamaru before facing one of Naruto's clones. "So, guess I better start this…" He murmured as he lifted his hands.

Naruto's eyes narrowed when suddenly darkness formed around Masaru's feet and spikes lurched out at every clones Masaru could see. Naruto gasped as a spike went through his shoulder, all his clones disappearing. Masaru chuckled and turned to face Naruto.

"See? Pathetic." Masaru stated, steeping closer.

Naruto grunted and tried to move out of the spike, however the spike formed itself on the exit wound so Naruto couldn't slip out of it.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted and formed a seal. "

Kagemane no Jutsu."

The shadow around him outstretched towards the two males and caught both of their shadows; neither of the two bothering to move away. He stepped backwards, and the two stepped backwards as well. The black spike disappeared from Naruto, freeing him.

"Hey, brother, this is quite interesting." Kenji smiled over at his brother.

Masaru smirked. "Indeed. Don't think I've witnessed this before… shame though. I was so close to finishing the blonde."

Naruto grunted again as he held his shoulder and moved to Shikamaru. "Wh-What was that thing?" He growled.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, making the other two shrug as well. "I have no idea, but I don't like it."

Masaru laughed. "It's part of our kekkei genkai you idiots."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, taking a quick mental note.

"Haraguroi Himitsu." Kenji smirked. "And it wants you."

Shikamaru shook his head and turned to Naruto. "I don't like these two at all."

Naruto nodded as he winced. "M-Me neither. W-We need to report to Grandma Tsunade…"

Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

Kenji shook his head. "You're not going anywhere." Kenji smirked and forced his head to look at his brother. "Seeing as we're a little caught, shall we retrieve a few people to help?"

Masaru smirked. "I think so."

"Wh-What? You can't get anyone like that!" Naruto hissed.

In unison the two brothers closed their eyes and lowered their heads, murmuring together, "

Doton Soseijutsu: Shishi Dojō - Earth Release Resurrection Technique: Corpse Soil."

Slowly, from all around, corpses emerged from the soil and turned towards Shikamaru and Naruto. Shikamaru widened his eyes as he looked around at the corpses of dead shinobi who have long ago died. "N-Naruto…" Shikamaru whispered, stepping back towards the blonde.

Naruto nodded slowly. "Th-This is freaky…"

Shikamaru nodded. One of the zombies nearby lurched at Shikamaru, causing him to break the Jutsu in order to protect himself. He quickly pulled a kunai from his pocket and drove it into the corpses neck. The corpses grunted and fell away to dust.

"They're easy to kill, Naruto." Shikamaru sighed with relief.

"B-But if we have to watch for these things, how do we get to those guys?" Naruto gasped as he looked to the smirking brothers who were now free.

Shikamaru nodded, watching the zombies advancing around them as well as the two brothers. "They're clearly kinjutsu users, -"

"Y-You mean those forbidden techniques no one is supposed to use?" Naruto gasped as he slashed at a zombie with a kunai.

Shikamaru nodded. "I've heard of this technique, and the only way to intercept it is to kill the two brothers, or else hey have to stop it themselves."

"Which we won't be." The two brothers spoke in unison, smirked and then laughed.

"Alright, Naruto." Shikamaru stepped closer to Naruto as he slashed at the onslaught of zombies. More and more were beginning to surround them, and Shikamaru knew they could only fight these for so long.

"This will be our escape plan for now. Use your shadow clones to push back the group, especially towards the two brothers. I will use my shadow imitation jutsu to hold the two brothers, and I want you to use shadow clones to tackle them until we can leave." Shikamaru whispered to Naruto.

Naruto nodded and winced as he pulled his hands together. "Sh-Shadow clone jutsu!" A large group of Naruto clones appeared around Shikamaru and Naruto and started to fight against the zombies, pushing them back towards the brothers. "N-Now, Shikamaru!" Naruto stated.

Shikamaru knelt down quickly, facing the two brothers and made his hand seal. Kenji watched as the shadow advance and stepped back behind one of the zombies with curiosity. Masaru quickly jumped up to grab onto a branch as he kept his eyes locked on the shadow with curiosity. Shikamaru smirked and let out a laugh as his shadow connected to Masaru's shadow. The other stem of shadow connected with the zombies shadow, causing it to stop, but continued from that zombies shadow to Kenji's. "Check mate." He smirked.

"Huh." Kenji grunted. "This is quite interestingly fun."

Masaru laughed and nodded. "And I thought it only worked if the person was on the ground… guess I was wrong."

Kenji nodded. "It runs by shadows, so it's only our shadow he needs."

Masaru smirked. "Hey, Kenji, what if there was no shadow for him to get? Guess that'd make the raven kinda useless…"

Kenji nodded and smirked as his eyes slowly turned to black, darkness spreading itself around his body and floating outwards. Masaru smiled as he closed his own eyes. He reopened them and they had also faded to black, darkness now spilling from his body as well.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as the shadow retreat, save from the one attached to the zombie, but he broke it off. He shook his head and started o attack the nearby zombies. "They're a lot stronger than I thought, Naruto." Shikamaru murmured.

Naruto nodded. "Shikamaru, head back to the village. I can cover for you…"

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, I was put in charge, Naruto. I'm to protect you." Shikamaru stated.

Naruto growled. "Shut up, Shikamaru! Just go! Someone needs to go back and report - I have more chakra than you, I can hold out longer!"

Kenji smirked. "Neither of you are getting away!" He laughed as the darkness began to retreat back into his body. Shikamaru quickly took opportunity to capture him with his shadow again. The shadow began to sneak up his leg and wrap itself around the males body.

Kenji's eye twitched as he watched the shadow advance up his body. "Masaru, this is quite different."

Masaru's eyes were still black as he smirked. "Wonder if it's a clan thing…"

Kenji nodded. "It would be very useful - and it fits with Haraguroi Himitsu." Kenji chuckled. The shadow was now at Kenji's chest, reaching for his neck. Kenji narrowed his eyes and fought back, forcing the shadow to slowly retreat down his body. "How dare you touch me." He hissed.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as the strength of the male fought against his shadow jutsu. "Now!" He shouted to Naruto.

Naruto nodded and quickly ran towards the village, slicing zombies as they tried to stop him. Shikamaru broke the jutsu and ran after Naruto quickly, pushing past the zombies until they were both clear.

Kenji gritted his teeth and stepped forward, moving his hands in a swiping fashion when Masaru quickly put his arm out across his chest to hold his arms down. "Let them go." He stated with a smirk. "I wouldn't have been satisfied with them anyway. I'd rather them strike fear into their village." He smirked.

Kenji growled but let the matter go. He was impatient, but he knew what Masaru said was best. The corpses surrounding them, and those running after Naruto and Shikamaru faded to dust blowing in the Land of Fire light breezes.

"Our next encounter." Kenji murmured.

Masaru let his arm fall back to his side as he sighed. "So, maybe we should research that guys name and learn his jutsu?"

Kenji nodded and after a moment sighed. "He's still mine next time we meet."

Masaru shrugged. "If you want to. I'm more interested in seeing that Jinchuriki…"

* * *

AN: Alright, so this is a new story obviously.

DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE REAL NARUTO CHARACTERS, AND THE SONG THAT MASARU AND KENJI SING, IS THE MAIN THEME SONG TO THE ANIME HIGURASHI. I DO NOT OWN ITT!

XxSoulNoteWritterxX


	3. Chapter 3

"What happened to you two? I didn't send you on a hard mission." Tsunade said, peering over her desk at the two Konoha Shinobi.

Naruto held his still bleeding shoulder as he winced. "G-Grandma… w-we were ambushed by those Shi brothers…" Naruto stated.

Tsunade's eyes widened momentarily and she dropped her hands to her desk. "T-the Shi brothers?" Tsunade echoed.

Shikamaru nodded. "They…allowed us to escape." Shikamaru said and lowered his head. "They're just as the rumours go; Kenji Shi: red-cloaked and black mask, grey hair with black tips and the kanji for death written on his forehead, the younger brother of Masaru Shi; Masaru Shi: has scars covering his body, bandages covering parts of his face, green hair with darker blue and purple tips, dressing casually, and has the kanji for death on the side of his neck. Both are very strong and show no fear. They acted like cats with a new toy trying to figure out my shadow jutsu's." Shikamaru stated. "And they both use Kinjutsu."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "They don't even use hand seals for their kekkei genkai… a-and… they are now after me b-because of the nine-tails…"

"They spoke about the Akatsuki. They must have some connections with them, because they spoke about getting the nine-tails before their leader - Pain." Shikamaru added.

Tsunade stood and looked out the window. "How far are they from the village?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment. "At least a couple miles."

Tsunade lowered her head. "Spread the word to all shinobi around. I want a high scale security around the village, no one comes through those gates without my permission. Naruto, keep close."

Shikamaru nodded and quickly disappeared from the room. Tsunade walked over to Naruto to inspect his shoulder. Her brows furrowed as she looked at the flesh surrounding the wound. "Naruto, what happened?"

Naruto sighed. "I-I was stabbed by a… weird black spike from the older brother…"

Tsunade shook her head. "Describe what stabbed you, Naruto."

Naruto's brows furrowed as he tried to think. "I-I don't know how to explain it… I-it was like… a sticky mess of black goo that formed into a sharp spike on Masaru's command. It just latched out and stabbed me before I could react. When I tried to escape it, it formed around my wound so I couldn't get out of it… It didn't disappear until after Shikamaru caught him with his shadow…"

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. When she reopened them, she moved to pull Naruto's jacket off. She inspected the wound carefully, her stomach turning. The flesh around Naruto's wound had already begun to rot, letting off a subtle smell of rotting flash. Inside the wound, black goo oozed from dead pores.

Naruto gasped as his nose turned up in disgust. "Wh-What the heck? G-Grandma… what the heck is their kekkei genkai?" Naruto growled.

Tsunade shook her head. "I haven't a clue, but whatever it is, it's going to take your arm if I don't heal it." She walked to the door, turning around quickly to say to Naruto, "To the hospital." before leaving.

* * *

Kenji and Masaru waited half the day, allowing Naruto and Shikamaru to spread the fear around. Just as they had expected, their Hokage started a full scale security in the village - only to the brothers joy. It was quite simple getting into the village, their shinobi proving less powerful than the brothers had expected.

There current intentions in this village, primary to killing the raven and blonde, was to search through the villages files and look for Shikamaru's information. Throughout the night, the two brothers searched around through different buildings when they found a promising looking building.

"Behind where I looked back; Who's in the front? In the dark, I sank in my nails - and tore apart the night." Kenji sang gently through the halls.

"The raindrops turn into droplets of blood and travel down my cheeks. If there's no place for me to return to anywhere anymore." Masaru continued gently.

The jounin at the end of the hall narrowed his eyes and turned to the one beside him. "The Shi brothers?"

The other jounin gritted his teeth and nodded. "I think so…"

Before the two could react, the flames on the torches blew out and the hall went black. Kenji quickly stepped forward and gracefully swept his hands forward. The two jounin braced themselves, but left out a stifled scream as something consumed them within seconds.

Their stifled screams last only a few seconds before both fell silent. "The Land of Fire had clearly fell past my expectations; I'm disappointed." Kenji murmured.

Masaru shrugged. "Who cares? I just want that kids file…"

Kenji chuckled lightly and the flames flickered once again once the darkness retreated. They walked forward to the door and opened it.

"Take these fingers, my fingers. I'll take you away with all of your fingers." Masaru murmured as he narrowed his eyes on some jounin that stood on the other side of the room.

Kenji glanced at his brother and slowly turned back to the jounin. "

To the unopened forest where cicadas cry. I can't turn back anymore…" He sang softly.

The two jounin narrowed their eyes at the two males. "You will get no further!" One called to the brothers.

Masaru raised an eyebrow and smirked. He slowly closed his eyes as a puddle of darkness appeared beneath the jounin's feet and slowly climbed their bodies, consuming them whole before they screamed in agony. Masaru slowly opened his eyes as the darkness pulled back and revealed the male's lifeless bloody body.

Kenji shook his head and moved towards the filing cabinet. "This is a lot of files to look through." He sighed when he opened the drawers. "too bad we didn't know the raven's last name." He sighed. "Maybe his name will show up in Uzumaki's file somewhere." He reached look through the files in the U section and found Naruto's name at the very end. He pulled it out and let out a small laugh at the size of a folder for such a young one.

Flipping through, he came across previous missions that Naruto had been on and noticed Shikamaru's name near the top of one. Shikamaru had been the leader of this particular mission, and before his name read "Nara". Kenji chuckled and turned to Masaru. "Nara, Shikamaru." Kenji stated.

Masaru grunted. "What an easy name..." He sighed before smirking. "Oh well, we got it now."

Kenji laughed while he searched through the N file, finding Shikamaru's file, ad pulling it out to hand over to Masaru. "You can do the honours."

Masaru smirked and took the file from Kenji's hands. He flipped through it until he found the section that spoke of jutsu's. He chuckled softly. "These'll be easy to figure out, Kenji." Masaru smirked. He set the file down on a nearby table and took a few steps back from Kenji before forming a hand seal. A weak shadow started to lurch out towards Kenji. "It'll take some practice, but won't be hard." He laughed.

Kenji shrugged. "You keep it, it's not my style." Kenji smirked, contiuing to look through the files from something that would catch his eye.

Masaru shrugged. "What do you plan on stealing? I think we should head out to the training feilds in this village, lurk in the shadows and watch kids train. Maybe a jutsu will be used that'll catch our eyes." He smirked. "I still wish we could get other people's kekkei genkais... it'd be so fun if we could..."

Kenji nodded as he finished looking through the files and stood up. "Well, I guess we could watch some training and try to figure out from that." Kenji smiled and followed Masaru out.

The brothers slowly slipped through the village and towards the training grounds. They hid in the shadows as jounin taught and trained their students. Kakashi was reading his Make-Out Paridise when Naruto came running towards him.

"Kakashi s-sensai!" Naruto gasped as he ran towards him and stopped.

Kakashi peeked up over his book to look at Naruto quizzically. Naruto held his shoulder that was now bandaged but still throbbing in pain. "G-Grandma Tsunade w-wants you..." Naruto stated, his voice slightly panicked.

Kakashi sighed and stood up. "What does she want now?" He murmured.

"I don't know." Naruto shrugged.

Kakashi sighed and stood up, stuffing the book into his pocket. "Keep your guard up." Kakashi stated before walkig away.

"Me? Maybe you should stop reading then, Kakashi-sensai!" Naruto gasped.

Kakashi ignored what Naruto had said and preceeded towards the Hokage's building. Along the way, Kenji and Masaru noticed him and began to follow him. "Well, you're quite an interesting one, maybe you'll have something I want." Kenji chuckled.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and quickly scanned the area. "So, it's I who happens to fall in the Shi brothers path." He spoke into the darkness.

Keji smirked and stepped out from behind a tree. "So it is." He laughed.

Kakashi looked at Kenji and scanned the area again. "Where's the other?" He asked cautiously.

"Not far off." Masaru murmured as he stepped from a tree on Kakashi's other side. "We're never apart." He chuckled as he leaned against the tree with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

Kakashi looked back and forth between the two. "I imagined you two to look a little more alike."

"Oh, bother. Many say that, but how can you tell when I have a mask, and some of his is covered?" Kenji shook his head and laughed. "You should understand, we are alike."

Kakashi shook his head. "I am nothing like you."

Kenji tilted his head slightly. "I'm not saying we're alike it any way except that we both have masks. It's a mystery that so many people try to figure out, but you don't want to show them, because it'll reveal a part of you that will make you vulnerable to others questions and thoughts."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he stared at Kenji.

Kenji simply smirked. "As I said, you and I are alike."

Masaru smirked. "You're nothing alike to this shinobi, bro. This man is weak - you're not." He chuckled lightly.

Kenji shrugged. "If you say so, brother."

Kakashi slowly moved his hand up to pull down up the headband to reveal his covered eye; the sharingan was now visible. Kenji looked carefully over Kakashi and smiled. "The sharingan - but surely you're not an Uchiha."

Kakashi shook his head slowly as he looked back and forth between the two brothers again. "It's time to finally rid of you."

Kenji pretended to gasp. "Mr. ninja is going to try to annihilate the Shi brothers, Masaru. Oh, what shall we do?"

Masaru laughed. "Fight back of course. I'm not about to shy away from a challenge."

"Oni-san, come here, to where my hands clap. No matter how you flee, I'll capture you~" Kenji sang quietly into the night.

Masaru laughed and narrowed his eyes on Kakashi, deciding not to sing back to his brother. Kenji lifted his eyes to look at his brother. "Brother, is something on your mind?"

Masaru smirked and laughed. "Do you really expect me to sing with you _every_ time?"

Kenji sighed. "It's a beautiful song, brother." He turned back to Kakashi and shut his eyes. "From the animal trail where a cicadas cry."

"The voice that I heard is no more." The two sung the last line in unison, Masaru looked over at Kenji and smirked. Kenji smiled softly from behind the mask as he looked at his brother lovingly.

"Beyond the darkness, the morning won't come anymore..." Kenji's voice faded to a whisper.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, listening to the lyrics of the song these two sung, his stomach turning.

"Please, brother, I insist." Kenji motioned towards Kakashi.

Masaru shrugged. "I was think we could be kind and allow this ninja to make the first move. What's your intake on that?" Masaru asked, glancing at Kenji.

Kenji nodded. "How polite."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, murmuring quietly, "

Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique."

Kenji raised a brow when a bull dog suddenly emerged from the ground and dug it's teeth deep into Kenji's shoulder, another dog coming from the other side and biting his side. He looked over at Masaru who was in the same predicament.

"Brother, I hate dogs!" Kenji growled.

Masaru growled and narrowed his eyes on Kakashi. "This is why we've never owned pets!" He screamed in annoyance. Masaru looked back to his brother, giving him a stern look.

Kenji narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Let's give them something more delicious to chew on."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, as he turned to look at Kenji.

Quietly, the brothers whispered in unison, "Earth Release Resurrection Technique: Corpse Soil."

Kakashi's eyes widened as he looked around at the corpses emerging from the ground. "T-this…You use kinjutsu!" Kakashi murmured. The dogs ran forward, jumping at the corpses to attack. They were easy to kill, and they turned to dust, but they kept coming. Kakashi turned his face to Masaru and stuck his hand down towards the ground, grabbing his wrist with the other hand. "Chidori!" He shouted.

Blue lightning began to surround Kakashi's hand as he stepped forward towards Kenji.

"He likes to get to the punch." Kenji stated and struggled against the dogs hold. Kakashi gritted his teeth and quickly ran towards Kenji, his hand weighing down to drag across the dirt, passing between the incoming corpses.

Kenji's eyes turned sad as he looked to his brother and sighed. Darkness snuck up his legs and quickly consumed his body, thickening itself a foot as Kakashi's fist drove itself into the thick blackness. His fist passed through the darkness and hit Kenji's stomach. Only Kenji's eyes were visible, and his eyes widened as he gasped in pain. The darkness slowly retreating from his body and the dogs let go, allowing Kenji's body to drop to the ground.

"K-Kenji!" Masaru gasped as he gritted his teeth. He narrowed his eyes at Kakashi as his eyes turned black and a eerie black aura surrounded his body, slowly spreading out and causing the dogs to whimper and back off. "I won't forgive you for that!" He screamed as he lifted his arms, darkness forming beneath Kakashi's feet.

Kakashi gasped and quickly jumped back, trying his best to avoid his attack. Just then, he noticed out the corner of his eye that Kenji's body slowly began to fade, rebuilding itself a few feet away from where his body once laid. Kenji gasped and pushed his palm to his forehead.

"That _actually_ hurt." Kenji stated.

Masaru turned to look at Kenji and glared. "What have I told you about scaring me!" He screamed in anger.

Kenji turned to look at his brother, sadness in his eyes. "Haraguroi Himitsu was the one who didn't let me die, Masaru. I didn't intentionally mean to almost die in front of you." He said, half with anger.

Masaru ran his hand through his hair and sighed deeply. "J-Just… don't do that…" He murmured, facing Kakashi again with a glare. "You're lucky we're blessed with such an amazing kekkei genkai…"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, turning to kill a few zombies that had neared to him. Kakashi quickly placed his hand in front of his face, his index and middle finger sticking up with the others down. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

In a matter of seconds, a thick mist settled over the area. Kenji looked over towards his brother, but couldn't see him. The zombies around grunted in confusion, turning and running blindly around.

"So, he was much more difficult then we imagined." Kenji sighed, narrowing his eyes to look around. The mist continued to thicken until he could hardly see a few feet in front of himself.

Masaru growled as he tried to find Kenji but had no luck. He closed his eyes and grunted. "Kenji…" He murmured.

Kenji nodded and took two steps towards Masaru when he felt something sharp drag across his neck. A gurgle of blood spilled from his throat as he turned and fell backwards, eyes wide at Kakashi.

Kakashi smirked as he watched Kenji fall, but his body melted away to a black goo. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and looked around, the corpses all falling away to dust with only Masaru left near by. "Cowards." Kakashi murmured.

"How rude." Masaru smirked. "We'll be back for yah, Kakashi…"

Kakashi watched as Masaru melted away to a same black goo as well. He pulled his headband back down over his eye as the mist faded away and he headed to meet with Tsunade.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hold still…" Masaru hissed as he moved Kenji's shirt up to inspect the wound on his chest.

Kenji gasped and pulled his cloak off, pulling his shirt up and off his body, looking down to look at the wound as well. "It burns."

Masaru frowned as he pulled his backpack off and searched through it for gauze. "I bet… you scared me, Kenji…" He murmured, keeping his eyes off of Kenji.

Kenji frowned and reached up to scratch his cheek. "I guess some of the Konoha Shinobi have proved themselves to us."

Masaru rolled his eyes as he pulled out the gauze, putting a medicine on it before wrapping it around his torso to cover the wound. After he finished and fixed the gauze in place, Kenji reached out to put his hand on the back of Masaru's neck, pulling him close to lean his forehead against his brothers. "I'm sorry, brother, for scaring you like that." He murmured while frowning. "I'm alright now. So please, be happy again."

Masaru sighed deeply before forcing a smile. "Yeah, yeah. No more getting ahead of yourself, alright? I don't know what I'd do if I lost you…"

Kenji nodded and pulled his brother into an embrace, wincing at the pain it caused in his chest. He sighed and pulled back, smiling at his brother. "Shall we just move on from the Land of Fire?" He asked.

Masaru shrugged. "Are you ready to leave?"

"We can just leave them in an uproar - they may just send some to us, those polite people." Kenji laughed lightly.

Masaru rolled his eyes and laughed as he moved to pull his backpack back onto his back. "Alright. You good to move, or you need a hand?"

Kenji shook his head slightly and reached over for his shirt, pulling it carefully over the gauze, pulling his belt up and over the bottom of his shirt. He slowly climbed to his feet and grabbed his cloak, pulling over his shoulders and shrugging into it. The two of them strolled along in the night under the moons light.

Just after Kakashi had put the mist in place, and made it more difficult for Kenji and Masaru, they had agreed on leaving, leaving two clones behind to distract Kakashi; success. They had quickly exited the village boarders to a safe spot where they had inspected Kenji's wound, and now they were off in no specific direction.

When they had finally retreated far enough from the village the two stopped. They hadn't bothered with a fire as they both laid themselves on the ground and fell asleep. Once again, Kenji was the first to open his eyes, this time before the sun was even above the horizon. He yawned and sat up, looking around his surrounding.

A soft chuckle left his throat as he looked over at his brother's sleeping form. If they would've kept walking, the two of them would've collapsed with exhaustion - as if there were a difference. They hadn't even set up camp before they had just fallen asleep on the ground. There was a nearby river a couple of yards to his left, and Kenji took the private opportunity to clean himself up. After he had finished, he returned to Masaru's side and sat down, shaking the waters from his soaking wet hair.

Masaru groaned and rolled onto his side as he shifted in his sleep, his one arm moving out and knocking Kenji's leg. Kenji turned his eyes to look at Masaru, his eyes still shut. He turned his face back towards the sky as he reached over for his cloak, laying it gently over Masaru's body. He wore less clothing then Kenji did, but he always rejected Kenji's offer of his cloak when he was cold. Instead, whenever he noticed that Masaru looked cold in the night, he'd lay it over his body to keep him warm, this way Masaru couldn't reject.

Masaru mumbled something as his body wrapped itself in Kenji's cloak. A small smile fell over his lips as he shifted again. Kenji sighed as he noticed his brothers smile and turned his face back to the sky once again, looking over the stars in the night sky.

Just before the sun began to rise in the sky, Masaru woke and after a few minutes they continued on their way. They found themselves at the edge of the Land of Fire overlooking water as far as the eye could see. "Well, I guess we've travelled the wrong way." Kenji laughed.

Masaru sighed deeply and nodded. "What now? It'd be annoying to go back…"

Kenji shrugged. "I guess we can walk along the shore and see where it takes us."

Masaru smiled softly and wrapped an arm around Kenji's shoulders. "Alright… w-want to sing that song too?"

Kenji laughed gently and looked at his brother. "Sounds like a plan to me."

They turned and began to their left along the shore. The water beat against the rocks and sand, at some points, rolling up and over their feet. Kenji smiled up at the sun, allowing the wind to blow through his hair.

"Being extinguished one by one; the blue flames. Beyond the darkness, - the morning won't come anymore." Kenji started the second verse.

"Inside the mirror, with countless wriggling hands reaching out. Come on, lure someone here." Masaru sang.

They sang in unison, "Oni-san, come here, to where my hands clap. No matter how you flee, I'll capture you. From the animal trail where cicadas cry. The voice that I heard is no more."

Their voices trailed off at the end of the line when they both noticed a boat off in the distance, travelling towards the shore a hundred yards up.

Kenji narrowed his eyes and pulled his mask up over his mouth, pulling his hood up and over his hair. Masaru smirked and looked over at Kenji. "Want to let this one go, or attack?"

Kenji shrugged. "We'll see who it is first."

They just reached where the boat had landed and watched as one woman and two men climbed out of the boat. The men helped each other pull the boat up on shore as the woman looked towards the brothers. Her eyes shielded her face from the sun as she peered at the two.

Kenji glanced at Masaru and raised his brow. "It's not every day that we come across an albino shinobi." He murmured quietly to Masaru.

Masaru nodded and smirked. "Think that makes her weak and useless?"

Kenji nodded. "The sun would limit her ability. There wouldn't be anything to gain from her…"

Masaru nodded. "I can't say I'm completely heartless… and if you notice… she's married…" He murmured gesturing to her ring finger that held a golden band.

Kenji glanced at her finger and nodded, rolling his eyes. "Relationships." He grunted.

Masaru chuckled and pulled Kenji closer to his side. "I'm offended by that."

Kenji sighed and glanced at his brother. "Romantic - Sexual relationships…"

Masaru smiled. "I know. They're pathetic…"

Kenji nodded as they both stepped forward. Kenji raised his hand to wave at the woman. She smiled and waved back, still keeping a watchful eye on the two.

"Hello." Her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke.

Kenji sighed and glanced at Masaru. "She seems so young. I wonder just how old she is, considering her ring."

Masaru shrugged. "She doesn't look much older than I am…"

Kenji nodded and turned back towards the woman. "How old are you?"

The woman was caught off guard and she glanced back at the two jounin who were walking up to stand beside her. She turned back around to the two males.

"Hasn't anyone tell told you that you're aren't suppose to ask a woman her age?" She spoke and laughed softly.

The two brothers paused, looking at each other in confusion. "No…how old are you." Kenji asked again.

"A little older than half of fifty." She smiled.

The two brothers expressions turned blank. "You could've just said a little older than twenty-five." Kenji stated.

She shrugged and laughed again. "Thought I'd make you work to figure it out a little."

"We're not idiots, we can do simple math." Kenji began to grow impatient and he turned his back on the woman to look at his brother. "She's annoying, let's kill her and the others."

Masaru shook his head. "Albino and married, probably with children. Even you aren't that heartless, Kenji…" He whispered with a frown.

Kenji closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance before turning around. He stepped towards the female. "You have children?" He asked bluntly.

The woman furrowed her brows and stepped back towards the two males, nodding slowly. "Why?"

Kenji sighed and glanced back to his brother. "How troublesome."

"What, you were planning on killing me otherwise?" She asked, her voice turning to annoyance.

"Kazue…" One of the jounin placed his hand on her shoulder. "Leave it be."

Masaru forced a smile and looked to the woman called Kazue. "Please, do not mind us. We just like to know things…" Masaru smirked before forcing it away as an idea hit him. "Have you heard that the Hidden Leaf Village is in a lockdown mode?"

Kazue narrowed her eyes suspiciously. The three looked at each other and turned back to the two brothers, shaking their heads in unisons.

"No, we haven't." One of the male jounins admitted.

Masaru raised his brows in shock. "Oh really? It's said that the Shi brothers had appeared in the area. The Fifth Hokage has ordered the village to raise its security."

"You're the Shi brothers." Kazue stated, narrowing her eyes.

Masaru raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Do we look like brothers to you?"

"Well considering the way you're speaking about such a matter so casually, that you could possibly be brothers, and that - let's face it - you don't look like a normal type, I'd say that you're the "Shi brothers" who has made an uproar at Konohagakure." Kazue said.

Masaru shrugged and put his hands behind his head. "We're not the Shi brothers, girl." He murmured. "We're just travellers…"

Kazue looked between the two. "Well then, thanks for the information, we'll just be leaving then." She murmured, nodding to the others. The two nodded and they all began to walk a wide birth around the two brothers to carry on.

Masaru smirked and looked to their abandoned boat. "Wanna take it, Kenji?" He whispered.

Kazue shook her head and stopped. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't." She said in annoyance, staring at the two brothers. The other two jounins stopped and turned around with Kazue.

Kenji snapped his head around to look at the woman. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak to us that way."

Kazue narrowed her eyes. "Then don't. Touch." She hissed.

Kenji turned his head to look at Masaru. "Can we? Seriously, I'm hating her already."

Masaru sighed deeply. "If you feel the need. But this is one fight I want to avoid."

"Don't underestimate us." Kazue hissed.

"Don't underestimate-" He scoffed and stepped forward. "Don't underest-" He stopped dead in his words as the woman swiftly pulled an arrow out and aimed it at Kenji. He rolled his eyes. "Pathetic."

Kazue narrowed her eyes. "I said don't underestimate us."

"I'm not underestimating them, I know you're weak." Kenji spat.

Kazue gasped in anger and pulled the arrow farther back. "I'm a lot stronger than you think."

Kenji nodded his head up towards the sun. "Not while this sun is as strong as it is. I can see the exhaustion in your eyes. Why are you here where the sun is so bright?"

"That's none of your business."

"We're a nosy bunch, aren't we, Masaru, my brother?" Kenji asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Masaru rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up, Kenji."

Kenji glared at his brother for a moment and turned back to face the woman.

"Apparently your brother isn't so on your side after all." She smirked.

Masaru smiled. "Don't get me wrong lady, I am on his side… just not against you. Unlike him, I believe you're one we could let go."

"Then leave us and our boat alone." Kazue stated.

Kenji rolled his eyes. "She's one the world would be better off without."

Kazue narrowed her eyes again, bracing herself as Kenji stepped forward.

"Here, I'll help you out a little." Kenji smirked, forming a hand seal and glared at her. Darkness formed around the five of them, blocking out the sun but allowing a little light in, just enough for a light dimness.

The three mist jounin looked at each other and back to Kenji. "W-what is this?" Kazue asked, looking around.

"Do you _not_ know who the Shi brothers are?" Kenji shouted. The three shook their heads and Kenji growled. "I hate how no one knows us, Masaru."

Masaru chuckled softly. "Then when you're done, we'll steal their boat and go to their village to spread the word."

Kenji nodded. "I agree."

Kazue had let go of the arrow just as Kenji turned around and it stopped bluntly in Kenji's shoulder. Kenji gasped and growled as he ripped the arrow from his shoulder, laughing. "You…will pay."

Kazue quickly pulled another arrow at and shot it. Kenji quickly dodged it and ran forward, reaching out his hands and clenching his fists. Spikes from everywhere on the ground shot up from the ground, but the three jumped away, only one of the groups legs being cut. The male reached down to touch his ankle and winced in pain. When they landed, he knelt down to take a better look. "I-It's-"

"We have no time to worry." The other male stated and began to form a hand seal.

The other shook his head. "It's not a normal wound…I-it's-" The man winced.

Kazue bent down to take a closer look and watched as the skin around his flesh began to rot and quickly spread. A black goo began to ooze from the wound. She turned her face to look at Kenji with widened eyes as he ran forward. He smirked as a spike shot up from behind the wounded male and sliced with ease through the mans back, emerging fro his chest and heading straight for Kazue's face. She gasped and quickly ducked, jumping away as spike sliced through the man in every direction.

"C-Chito!" Kazue gasped, watching as his body fell into pieces of rotting flesh.

Kenji caught up to Kazue and struck his arm out to hit Kazue, but she quickly dodged. She tried to reached for an arrow, but Kenji grabbed her wrist and shoved her up against the black wall that had formed not long ago. He leaned in closer to look into her red eyes. A laugh left his lips as he noticed the black that surrounded her eyes.

"Make-up. Trying to look normal?" Kenji smirked.

"I _am_ normal." Kazue hissed.

"Normal like a flying horse." Kenji hissed.

The male gritted his teeth, slowly sneaking up behind Kenji while make a hand seal. Masaru gritted his teeth and threw himself at the sneaky male to pull him back from Kenji and shove a kunai into his throat.

Kenji ignored the commotion behind him as he kept his eye on Kazue. "Face it, you're not normal-"

"I _am_ normal!" She shouted, spitting in his face.

Kenji stared blankly at her, reaching up to wipe the spit with his sleeve. "What, has your husband been lying to you all this time? Whispering these lies into your ear as he takes advantages of you."

Kazue narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"Do _not_ speak of Nikito that way!" She yelled.

"Nikito, huh? So your husbands name is Nikito. I wonder what this Nikito looks like." Kenji chuckled. "Most of all, I wonder what he will do when he finds out that his precious wife has been killed by the Shi brothers."

"He'd start a massive search throughout the shinobi world, calling together all he could to bring you two down." She stated angrily.

"Oh, but that's nothing compared to a life of heartache, having to raise a child all on his own." Kenji smirked, narrowing his eyes.

Her eyes widened and she struggled against his hold. "Get off me!"

Kenji chuckled and grabbed her arm with his free hand, turning it backwards and laughing when he heard the snap. "So fragile." He murmured as she screamed in pain. He thrusted his knee forward into hers, forcing her knee against the wall so hard it popped the bone out of joint. The woman cried out in pain as she fell forward into Kenji's arms weakly.

Kenji gasped in disgust and stepped back, letting Kazue falling to the ground.

"Disgusting. Just disgusting!" Kenji wiped his cloak as if there were dust on it.

Masaru frowned slightly as he looked to the helpless crying girl. "M-Maybe you should l-leave her like that…" He murmured softly.

Kenji growled as he looked to Masaru. "Leave her be just like this? She'd b better off dead."

Masaru shook his head as he stepped closer to Kenji. "Brother please… the damage on her and to these jounin will show her village who we are and tell them to fear… Y-You know I don't like killing woman, o-or seeing you do it…"

Kenji narrowed his eyes at Masaru before he brought his foot back and slammed it into the woman's side. She gasped in pain as the wind was knocked out of her and she gasped for air. The force had broken some of her ribs.

Kenji let out a loud frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, pushing the hood down off his head.

"There…is _that_ alright with you?' Kenji asked.

Masaru frowned at the girl and nodded turning around and continuing down the shore. "You're welcome for saving your life, by the way…" He murmured with a sigh. Kenji growled at the woman before following reluctantly after his brother.


	5. Chapter 5

A while after the brothers had left, Kazue weakly crawled towards the boat and pushed the boat into the water. It took her a while and quite a few tries, but after the boat was in, she climbed in and directed the boat towards the island before passing out from the pain.

Kenji kicked a rock on the ground and let out a growl. "She was _so_ close, almost dead anyways!"

"Just shut up!" Masaru hissed. He walked a few paces ahead of Kenji and gritted his teeth. "Y-You don't… get it… do you?"

Kenji paused in his steps and watched his brothers back as he walked on. He kicked the ground once more before sighing, pulling his mask down and taking in a deep breath before running after his brother.

"Look, I'm sorry, Masaru." Kenji murmured.

"What's done is done." Masaru murmured, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Don't bother apologizing unless you're gonna say it to the female too…"

Kenji shook his head. "Masaru, she is not anything like mother."

Masaru snapped his head up to glare at Kenji. "We never speak of that, you know that!" He hissed before walking faster again.

"Masaru! You need to let go of the memories! She is _nothing_ like our mother, you don't need to compare them! So what if she's a woman, she's an annoying shinobi!"

Masaru stopped walking and turned to face Kenji, gripping his shoulders forcefully. "Nothing like mother? Really? She was emotional, married, with a child, and was already weak from being an albino! You don't compare any of that to mother? Nothing at all?" He screamed.

Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Mom was not albino. She was soft-spoken and didn't want to hurt anyone if she could help it. She was gentle and loving, and put everyone - no matter who it was - before herself!"

"How do you know that girl was not the same as mother, Kenji? You don't! Neither of us did!"

Kenji shoved the palm of his hands into Masaru's shoulder, shoving him back. " _No one_ can be compared to mom! NO ONE!" Kenji screamed back.

Masaru gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists and closed his eyes. "At least you were not the one who murdered her!"

"It wasn't you, Masaru. If you had any sense, you wouldn't have killed her! I wouldn't have killed dad, either! Haraguroi Himitsu is to blame for this entire mess."

"Kenji… y-you know I could have stopped it… I-if only I fought harder… I-I already passed the stage you were in…" Masaru's voice had calmed as his shoulders relaxed and sorrow filled his voice.

"It's weaker at those stages, allowing for the person to tame it. It was stronger compared to the level I was at, allowing it to become stronger than it should of. That night, I was planning on going to get father since he was awake already and you were sleeping…but I was being lazy. It's my fault." Kenji lowered his head.

Masaru fell to his knees in the sand and lowered his head as he screamed in frustration. "I-It's not fair!" He screamed before gritting his teeth again, pushing back tears that were threatening to fall.

Kenji's jaw clenched as he listened to his brothers anguish. He hated to see his brother so upset. Slowly, he approached his brother and knelt down beside him and placed his hand on his shoulder. "No, it's not fair, Masaru, but that's how our life happened to end up and it's all we have to work with."

Masaru looked up at Kenji before closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Kenji's shoulders tightly. Kenji's eyes widened for a split second before he leaned his head against Masaru's shoulder. "The most important thing right now is that we still have each other." He whispered gently.

Masaru nodded and tightened his hold. "N-No more a-attacking females… a-alright?"

Nikito yawned as he sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his shaggy black hair. He'd been doing paperwork all day and his eyes felt heavy. Suddenly a jounin burst into his office, panic on his face.

"L-Lord…. M-Mizukage! I-It's your wife, Kazue… w-we found her on shore in a boat. She's injured and has been taken straight to the hospital!" The jounin panted.

Nikito's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet and ran out of his office passed the jounin and to the hospital. He rushed to the front desk and was told where Kazue was. He quickly followed the directions and ran to her room. When he ran in, several doctors were in the room and stepped to the sides so he could see her. Her one arm was bandaged while her one leg was also bandaged and above the covers. Her body was bruised where her ribs would be. Tears formed in his eyes as he moved to sit in the chair beside her bed. He carefully took her good hand into his as he looked at her peaceful sleeping face. He turned to look up at the doctors.

"D-Do we know who did this?" He asked, his voice rough and cracky.

The one doctor looked to the others and sent them out before looking back to Nikito. "No. But the jounin that had been with her were not in the boat. We believe that they were ambushed…"

Nikito gritted his teeth and looked back down at Kazue. "Wh-What is her damage?"

"Three broken ribs, a dislocated knee cap, and a broken arm." The doctor said softly.

A few tears slipped from Nikito's eyes as he let out a shaky breath. "If she has not been told already, I want someone to go to Jatsu and tell her of what has happened."

"She already knows, Lord Mizukage." The doctor stated before walking out.

Nikito looked back down at his wife and sighed deeply before kissing her forehead. "I'm j-just glad you're alive, Kazue…" He whispered.

The door suddenly flew open and Jatsu stood in the doorway, Her eyes looked directly at Kazue and tears began to slip from her eyes. "O-Oh god… Kazue…" She sobbed as she slowly moved to sit in another chair that was to Nikito's left.

"I-I never should have sent her on this mission…" Nikito whispered.

Jatsu shook her head and rested her hand on Nikito's back. "Don't blame yourself, Nikito… this couldn't have been helped. At least she is alive. From what I heard, the jounin she was with are missing."

Nikito lifted his other hand to shield his eyes as more tears slipped from his eyes, a sob escaping his throat. Jatsu frowned and looked down at her little sister, letting out a shaky breath as she reached up to move some hair from her eyes. "K-Kazue… please wake up, my little sister…"

Kazue stirred, her eyes shutting tighter before they fluttered opened to look at her sister. Her eyes drifted from Jatsu to Nikito's crying face. The edges of her lips turned down. "N-Nikito…" She murmured and she took in a deep breath. The pain her broken ribs caused her made her gasp in pain.

Nikito slowly lifted his head to look at Kazue, tears still streaking his face. "I-I'm so sorry… Kazue…" He whispered, biting his lip as he squeezed her good hand.

"No, don't be." She smiled and weakly reached up to caress his cheek. "Be strong, Mr. Mizukage." She stared up at him with a soft expression as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

Nikito let out a shaky breath before resting his hand against hers that was on his cheek and leaned into it. "Wh-What happened? I-It was a simple mission…" He murmured.

Kazue looked away sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Nikito. I-it was my fault…"

Nikito shook his head. "There's nothing you could have done that deserved this… are the other jounin even alive?"

Kazue frowned and shook her head. "They…were killed." She murmured. She turned back to look at Nikito. "And it was my fault, Nikito. I…was acting childish. I haven't been out on a mission in a long time, and I forgot how pressing the sun was on me. It…stressed me out and I wasn't thinking clearly."

"No more missions in the sun." He whispered before closing his eyes.

"Who did this?" Jatsu murmured, lowering her head and clenching her fists. "I will kill whoever it was…"

Kazue turned her face to look at Jatsu. "I…don't quite know who they were. They called themselves the "Shi Brothers", but I've never heard of them before."

Nikito's eyes widened as he slowly lifted his head to meet Kazue's eyes. "Th-The Sh-Shi brothers? You're lucky to be alive!" He gasped.

Kazue frowned and nodded her head, turning her eyes away. "I-I know." She murmured. After a second she turned back to look at Nikito. He had that thoughtful expression again, and she sighed. "They mentioned that Konohagakure is in an uproar over them. It's on high security now, trying to locate the Shi brothers…"

"I'm going to tell all villages to do that…" Nikito murmured before closing his eyes. "I wonder if it's because you're a female that you're alive…"

Kazue's brows furrowed with confusion. "The one did protest strongly to not killing me." She murmured.

"Why would Kazue being a girl matter?" Jatsu asked Nikito. "Usually it's females males like to target."

Nikito shook his head. "The brothers killed their parents and fled their home. One of them clearly killed their mother. It makes me wonder if Kazue possibly reminded them or their mother…"

Kazue gasped. "H-Hows Tayori?" Her eyes were wide.

Nikito smiled softly to Kazue. "She's fine, don't worry, my love."

Kazue bit her lip and nodded. "A-alright." She murmured. "Please…don't leave for a while." She frowned.

Nikito shook his head and smiled. "I won't leave you yet, I promise. Do you want me to have someone bring Tayori to us?"

Kazue shook her head. "Maybe it's better she not see me like this."

Nikito nodded in understanding. "Alright." He turned to face Jatsu. "Could you do me a favour?"

Jatsu nodded. "Anything…"

"I need you to find Aniko and call him here."

Jatsu nodded slowly and stood up. She leaned forward to kiss Kazue's forehead before backing up and walking out.

"No more missions for a while…" Nikito murmured with a small laugh.

Kazue sighed. "I knew you'd say that."

Nikito frowned. "Do you blame me, Kazue?"

Kazue shook her head. "No, I completely understand what you're saying." She smiled and laughed lightly. "But I know that when you say a while, it'll extend to a while times three."

Nikito sighed deeply. "With me being Mizukage now, it makes it hard to know how you are. I was your only partner on missions. No one knows you like I do…"

Kazue smiled. "That's why I fell in love with you." She laughed softly.

Nikito smiled and closed his eyes, a tear slipping down his face. "I-I'm just so glad I didn't lose you." He whispered.

Kazue frowned and forced herself into a sitting position, gritting her teeth at the pain. "Nikito…" She winced. "I-"

Nikito shook his head. "Lay back down, please…"

Kazue shook her head. "I'm…fine." She murmured.

Nikito shook his head. "Please… j-just lay down… I'll worry less."

Kazue frowned as she stared into Nikito's eyes before giving in and lying down. "Fine." She whispered.

Nikito gave her a soft smile and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Thank you."

Kazue quickly caught him and pressed her lips to his. "I love you." She whispered.

Nikito rested his hand on her cheek as he kissed her back softly. "I love you too, my sweet."

Kazue sighed and pulled back to stare into his eyes. "Do you think I'm beautiful?" She whispered, diverting her eyes.

Nikito's face twisted in confusion. "Of course I do, Kazue. I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever set eyes on."

Kazue frowned. "Despite my…condition…"

Nikito frowned and rested his hand on her cheek. "Kazue, you know I love you despite it. In fact, I think without it, it would make you less of the Kazue I fell in love with." He smiled. "Of course you're beautiful, even with your condition."

Kazue sighed, keeping her eyes turned away from him. "I just…feel like some alien on a different planet, Nikito. I'm not normal like everyone else… I don't fit in, I never have. You shouldn't love me…" Her voice cracked at the end and tears slipped from her eyes.

Nikito frowned again and shook his head. "Kazue, look at me…" He whispered.

Kazue shook her head and sniffed. "No…" she murmured.

"Kazue, please, look at me." He whispered again.

She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, more tears forcing themselves between her lids. Nikito sighed deeply and shook his head. "Kazue… you're not an alien, and you do fit in. You're married to the Mizukage, have a beautiful daughter and a sister and father who love you to death. You can't look at all that and say you do not fit in. You're my beautiful wife that I'd give my life for a thousand times over. I never want to lose you, Kazue…" He sighed deeply. "Did those brothers say something to you that made you think like this?" He whispered.

Kazue rolled painfully over on her side away from Nikito and drew her knee's closer to her chest, letting out a sob. She used her good arm to wipe her face on her sleeve, rubbing her eyes. The eye liner she had put on partly came off on her sleeve and she frowned. "I feel more like a burden then anything. Mom and Dad always had to look after me specifically. Jatsu always had to be careful while playing with me. Even know, Jatsu and Dad always look extra carefully after me, and you have to choose the missions wisely so that I won't be useless or a burden to the team. If we lived somewhere like Konoha, I wouldn't even be able to spend the day with Tayori at the park…" Another sob.

Nikito frowned at Kazue and sighed deeply. "You sound like you w-wish you were killed today…" He whispered painfully.

Kazue frowned and buried her face into the bed. "I didn't want to, because I didn't want to leave you or Tayori…" She murmured.

"Kazue… you're unique. There's nothing wrong with being different. Nothing wrong with people wanting to look after you. Are you saying that if Tayori had been born with your condition you'd just look down on her and never look after her?"

Kazue shook her head. "It's different when it's your own flesh and blood."

Nikito nodded. "That's why Jatsu and Sora and even your mother have treated you as they have. And now that I'm your husband, I have that right as well…"

Kazue sighed and sniffled again. "I…something they said just struck me." She whispered.

Nikito nodded. "I understand, Kazue. But you need to listen to your family and your heart, not some idiots who kill like it's a game."

Kazue nodded and rolled back on her back, wincing at the pain. She let out a painful laugh and wiped her eyes again. "How horrible do I look now?"

Nikito smiled softly and reached up to wipe off some make-up that was smudged. "Beautiful as always."

Kazue let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." She murmured


	6. Chapter 6

Masaru sighed as he laid on his back looking up at the sky, a small fire kept heat to the one side of his body. He looked over to see Kenji drawing in the dirt with a twig. Masaru chuckled slightly. "That bored, Kenji?"

Kenji shook his head. "No, just in thought." He murmured his reply.

A frown came over Masaru's lips as he turned his head away. "What of?" He muttered back.

"Many things; our parents, our past, our home land…what we do…" He waited a moment. "That woman…"

Masaru let out a long breath as he closed his eyes. "You're thinking of the woman?"

Kenji nodded. "But it doesn't matter much anymore. I'm just imagining her husbands expression when she arrives - if she arrives."

Masaru's frown turned blank as he sighed. "

Beyond the darkness, the morning won't come anymore." He murmured in a lyrical way.

A slight smile met Kenji's lips and he laid back onto his back, looking up at the beautiful night sky. "It's getting late, brother. You should try to sleep now." Kenji murmured softly.

Masaru bit his lip as he shook his head. "Can't."

"How come?"

Masaru shook his head again as he rolled onto his side, his back to Kenji. "N-Nevermind…" He murmured.

Kenji sighed. Between the two of them, they hardly ever pushed. They had an unspoken mutual agreement that if it were important to verbalize, it would indeed be verbalized. He glanced over at his older brother before rolling onto his side as well. Might as well take his own advice, even if it took him a few hours until his brain would allow itself to shut down and get a little sleep.

After a few hours, Masaru seemed to snap from his thoughts. He slowly sat up to lean against the trunk of a tree as he looked at his younger brother, sleeping soundly beside the coals of the once blazing fire. He sighed deeply as he looked out into the darkness of the night. He felt like there were other people nearby.

Kenji stirred in his sleep; he rolled back onto his back and lifted his arm to cover his closed eyes. A yawn escaped him and he murmured a few words before falling silent again. Masaru smiled softly as he moved over to Kenji and picked him up gently, trying to be as still as he could so he didn't wake up. He slowly moved him over to the tree he had been sitting against to lean him against the same tree. Masaru sighed once more as he grew uneasy. Instinctively, he put his arm gently around Kenji, suddenly feeling protective of his younger sibling.

Kenji nestled himself into Masaru's arm and sighed slightly with annoyance. Is body seemed to tense and his arm twitched; a bad dream.

"Kenji…" A thick, deep voice called from the darkness.

Kenji lifted his eyes from where his feet were towards where the light faded into the dark. The voice was coming from there, calling, luring him towards itself. His foots began to move forwards, his eyes narrowed.

"You have a visitor." The voice said, and chuckled.

Kenji quickly swept his eyes through the area of darkness. "Visitor? Who would be visiting at this hour?"

"They just don't know how to leave us alone." The voice said and sighed. "Kenji, come forth."

Kenji turned his body towards where the voice was beckoning him, and began to walk forward. The familiar feel of sticky darkness surrounded him, enveloping him slowly as he walked forward. It began to seep into his mouth, and Kenji began to gasp for air. He reached out to no one in particular, crying silent for help as the darkness seeped down his throat and into his lungs. It took moments for Kenji to be consumed, and it was no more himself that continued to walk forward.

He laughed an eerie laugh and smirked. "Those pathetic, pathetic losers."

Kenji suddenly lunged from Masaru's arm, gracefully gliding to his feet as he jumped forward, tackling a large blunt object to the forest ground. The person below Kenji gasped.

Masaru's eyes widened as he looked down to the woman who was chuckling. "I was always told you two were good, but I've never faced you before!" She smirked.

Kenji snarled as he pushed his hand into her stomach. "Pathetic." He said as darkness began to consume the womans body.

The woman looked up at Kenji with eyes that had no pupils. She smirked as she narrowed her eyes, inflicting pain on him as she pushed him off of her and moved back to her feet.

"Hitama…" Masaru murmured with a smirk.

The female turned to face Masaru. "That obvious?"

He nodded. "Like the Uchiha clan, yours was of the Leaf village and was destroyed. It was believed to have no other survivors besides a female by the name of Natsumi."

The woman smirked and nodded. "And more have been showing up alive. But that does not matter."

Masaru nodded. "You're in the Akatsuki, that makes my respect for you fly out the door."

Natsumi chuckled and shrugged. "The Akatsuki is not that bad, in fact I went to it of my own will."

Kenji chuckled. "Between the Shi brothers, there is no room of respect for the Akatsuki."

"Then we'll just assume that you're going to put up another fight." Another Akatsuki member stepped out from behind a tree.

Kenji turned his head to face the newest addition. "So, after we killed one of your other members, and sent one back to reply with a strict, "No!", that pathetic leader of yours sends two more?" Kenji chuckled.

"He sent us to give you one second chance, you can either take it, or face death." The addition stated.

Kenji began to laugh. "Face death?" He turned to his brother. "We must be a big threat."

Masaru shrugged as he stepped closer to Kenji's side. "We're not going to your pathetic organization. So here are your options, leave, or die."

The addition chuckled and began to walk around the two until Natsumi was directly on the other side of the two; like a game of monkey in the middle. The moonlight caught the faces of the two brothers and she gasped, glancing at Natsumi.

Natsumi raised an eyebrow at her partner. "What is it, Kasumi? You're not getting scared, are yah?" She smirked.

Kenji chuckled. "Is _Kasumi_ a little afraid of a little deconstruction of the face?" He smirked.

Kasumi shook her head slightly and her stomach turned. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the sight of his face. From the edges of his lips, back about two inches, the flesh from his cheeks were missing. Every single one of his teeth, from the front to back could be seen and counted, and his jaw bone could be seen. His eyes were a black, staring intently in her direction.

"Do I…make you quiver?" Kenji asked, his voice growing deeper.

Kasumi shook her head again. "What…happened?" Kasumi asked, her brows furrowing.

Kenji chuckled and turned to his brother. "We might as well show them before we put them out of their misery."

Masaru smirked and chuckled before shrugging. He pulled out a kunai and used it to cut the bandages that wrapped around certain parts of his face. The bandage fell to the ground silently as he smirked at Kasumi. The bandage had hid his bones. Masaru's face was missing skin and muscle. Masaru shrugged. "It's not that bad, is it?"

Kasumi shook her head and glanced at Natsumi. "These guys are freaks." She murmured.

Kenji glanced at his brother before lunging at Kasumi. Kasumi quickly caught her guard and dodged his attack. He quickly turned around and began swinging the kunai in his hand in her direction; she kept dodging.

Masaru watched closely when Natsumi suddenly lunged for him. He quickly turned and caught her wrist before throwing her into a nearby tree. "You're pathetic… both of you are." He hissed.

Natsumi pulled herself to her feet and growled. "Thought you were interested in my story!" She yelled at Masaru.

He shrugged. "I did… until I realized how pathetic you are…"

Natsumi gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

Kenji chuckled and swung his foot out, kicking Kasumi in the gut. She flew backwards and collided to the ground. Unscathed, Kasumi quickly shot to her feet and thrusted her hands to the ground. A larger spiked rock shot up from the ground towards Kenji, and Kenji jumped into the air. A dark blunt object came from the right and knocked Kasumi in the side, sending her flying towards Masaru and Natsumi. Before she could reach the two, Kenji pushed off and tree and dove towards Natsumi, tackling her to the ground before she could landed a hit on Masaru.

Natsumi gasped and snarled at Kenji. "You're hideous!" She growled trying to push him off of her. Kenji's eyes narrowed and he leaned down to bite into her shoulder through the cloak. A black goo covered his teeth and began to seep in through the wound.

Natsumi gasped again and winced. "Wh-What the hell is this? Get off of me!"

Kenji chuckled and pulled back, moving to the other shoulder and biting it as well; the same thing happened. Natsumi screamed out in pain. She managed to get her foot under his stomach and kicked him off of her. She winced as she sat up to inspect her shoulders. She screamed out again in frustration and pain as she sat helpless. A numbing feeling was taking over her body at a quick pace.

Kenji sat up and looked at Natsumi, smirking. He quickly got to his knee's and jumped to Natsumi, knocking her back the ground. He stared down at her and chuckled. "This is the power of Haraguroi Himitsu. " His eyes narrowed and he pushed his fingers into the wounds, causing her more pain.

Natsumi gritted her teeth as she tried not to scream again. In the fourteen years she had been in the Akatsuki, she had never fallen this bad in battle. She struggled beneath Kenji, but her attempts were futile. She was getting weaker by the second, her body no longer following her commands. Kenji moved his hands over her eyes, holding her down with his knee's on either side of her, pinning her hands down. A dark aura covered his hands and passed through her eyes, surrounding her mind.

Meanwhile, Masaru chuckled as he looked from his brother to Kasumi. He smirked and pulled out a kunai. "You're partner has fallen.."

Kasumi's eyes were wide as she stared at Natsumi. She shook her head and turned to look at Masaru. "I can see why the Leader wants you."

Masaru shrugged. "Oh well, too bad." He chuckled and spun the kunai around his finger as his eyes faded to black. "So, how should I finish you?"

Kasumi shook her head and stood up, dusting off her cloak. "I will not fall to you."

Kenji chuckled as the dark aura faded back into his hands and he stood up. "Maybe not to us…but…" He chuckled again.

Natsumi slowly stood up, her head lowered with her bangs covering her eyes. "Kasumi…" She murmured, her tone eerie.

Masaru smirked and stepped aside for Natsumi as she stepped closer to Kasumi. Kasumi narrowed her eyes. "What did you do to her?" She shouted.

"Just brought her in light of our side." Kenji chuckled.

Kasumi shook her head. "I'm sorry, Natsumi, but if you don't back down, I'll have to kill you."

An eerie laugh emitted from Natsumi as she slowly lifted her head to reveal black eyes. "You… will not kill me."

"I will." Kasumi stated and shot her hands towards Natsumi; the tree's around Natsumi began to cave in around Natsumi.

Natsumi remained unmoving as she watched the trees wrap around her. She smirked as she used her kekkei genkai, but instead of pure white eyes, they were a dark grey. She lifted her hands and pulled them together to form a seal. Her hand then flung outwards and the trees slowly moved back to their original place as she stepped closer to Kasumi, her eyes narrowed. "Poor… Kasumi. Too bad… you were never a match for me before either…"

Kasumi narrowed her eyes and disappeared from Natsumi's vision. She knew that the only way to escape Natsumi's power was to knock her from her concentration. She could feel an extra force on her chakra and she gritted her teeth. "Illutia Minito." Kasumi whispered and sweeped her hand over the dirt ground.

Natsumi just shook her head and chuckled as she lifted her hands again. "Give up, Kasumi!" She snickered.

Kenji's eyebrow raised as the space around Natsumi began to move. Slowly, it spread apart, warping the image around Natsumi in the faint moonlight. Suddenly, in one burst of energy, the space wrapped itself around Natsumi. Kenji's head tilted as he looked at the scene. It was as if the air was like a blanket and wrapped itself around her body. Her body could no longer be seen, but judging by how the image was; the bumps and the dents, he could tell where it was.

Natsumi just laughed as she focused her mind on Kasumi's chakra, slowly shutting it down. Kasumi gritted her teeth and forced the rest of her chakra into the jutsu. The air around Natsumi began to thin out, making it harder for Natsumi to breathe; like a vacuum, the air was slowly disappearing from the space Natsumi was held in. Natsumi gasped and gritted her teeth as she tried to break the jutsu.

Kasumi's jaw clenched as she felt her body growing weaker and weaker by the second. He shoved her fingers into the ground and whispered. "

Shiageru - Finish." She murmured. She looked out from behind a tree to see the space around Natsumi go back to normal, her body reappearing. She turned back around and closed her eyes as she breathed her last breath.

Natsumi gasped and wailed in pain before her eyes faded back to normal and her body fell forward, dropping to the dirt - dead.

Kenji looked down at Natsumi's body. "She killed her?"

Masaru shrugged. "Too bad, if she wasn't with the Akatsuki, I would've liked to keep her around." He chuckled.

Kenji nodded and looked around the area. He opened the palm of his hands and as he lifted them, a darkened gas lifted from the ground around the area. "She's dead as well." Kenji stated before the gas disappeared and his hands returned to his sides.

Masaru sighed. "Oh well. Maybe that stupid leader of theirs will finally give up…"

Kenji nodded. "Shall we finished our rest, or shall we move on our way, brother?"

Masaru sighed. "I'd like to rest. I want to put a new bandage on…"

Kenji nodded in understanding. "Get some sleep then, Masaru." He murmured.

Masaru's eyes drifted to meet Kenji's gaze. "What shall we do with their bodies?"

"We could give them to satisfy Haraguroi Himitsu."

Masaru nodded and walked over to bend down beside Kasumi's body. His eyes turned black as he placed his hand on her head. Darkness slipped through his hand and around her body, quickly consuming her before she disappeared in a black cloud. He sighed and stood back up. Kenji repeated the action with Natsumi's body. When they finished, Masaru sighed and set down his backpack against a tree. "I'll find some wood." He murmured, disappearing into the dark of the woods.

Kenji sighed and sat back down and leaned against the tree he was sleeping against beside Masaru. His eyes closed and sleep over took him; he still need an hours rest before he would wake again. When Masaru returned he chuckled softly at Kenji's sleeping form. He quickly put together a small fire and sat down in front of it. He ran his hands through his hair before reaching for his backpack. He quickly wrapped the bandage back around the visible bones and then returned everything back into his bag. He sighed deeply and looked back over at Kenji. The names Kasumi and Natsumi called the brothers seemed to float through his mind. He groaned in annoyance as he laid back beside Kenji and looked up into the sky.

Nikito looked down at his wife who was sleeping peacefully before facing Jatsu. "Are you sure I can trust you to do this mission?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

Jatsu nodded. "Of course."

"But I know how angry you are. I do not want you seeing those men and attacking…"

Jatsu shook her head. "My mission is to reach the Leaf Village as fast as I can."

Nikito nodded. "Do not, stop. Go straight to the Hokage."

She nodded. "I will."

Nikito nodded. "I don't know what Kazue would do if she lost you. So, be careful."

Jatsu nodded as she glanced down at her sister. She frowned slightly before sighing. "L-Look after Tsuki for me… alright? I-I don't want anything happening to her."

Nikito smiled and nodded. "Of course."

Jatsu stepped forward to hug Nikito before running out. It took about four days before she reached the Leaf Village. She quickly ran through and reached the Hokage's mansion. When the door finally opened, she spotted five people inside. Naruto, Shikamaru, Tsunade, Sakura and Kakashi. Jatsu had been to the Leaf before, so she did know some village shinobi.

"Jatsu…" Naruto smiled slightly.

Jatsu noticed his shoulder was bandaged and his arm held in a sling. "Wh-What happened, Naruto?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "The Shi Brothers…"

Jatsu shook her head and sighed as she looked to Tsunade. "I was sent by the Mizukage to send a message." She murmured, moving to bow down on her knee.

Tsunade lifted a brow and crossed her arms. "A message?"

Jatsu nodded, her head still bowed. "Nikito has asked several different shinobi from our village to visit all other villages to keep on the look out for these Shi Brothers and kill them at any cost." She slowly lifted her head to meet Tsunade's gaze. "Kazue was almost killed by them…"

Tsunade eyed Jatsu carefully and nodded. "Kazue Olika…fragile girl. I'm surprised she survived." Tsunade murmured.

"As were we." Jatsu sighed and rose to her feet. "According to her, the two males she was with were murdered without hesitation, however the eldest brother stopped the younger from killing Kazue. It seems Masaru Shi has a soft spot for woman."

Tsunade chuckled. "A ladies man, is he?"

Jatsu shrugged. "I suppose so."

"Well he sure had no hesitation with Shikamaru and I!" Naruto growled, looking at his shoulder.

Tsunade's lips turned into a smirk. "Well, if he has no problem with men, but has difficulty with killing woman, why not send him some woman?"

Jatsu looked nervous as she bit her lip. "W-Well… Nikito… didn't tell me to say that we need to send people after them… h-he just said that he wants all villages on alert until we can locate them…"

Tsunade shrugged. "They put my village in an uproar, and I will never forgive them. They killed some of my jounin and almost killed Kakashi, Naruto and Shikamaru." She shook her head. "You send a message back to the Mizukage for me. Tell him that I will not allow these two brothers to stay alive. I will use all I can, even going after them myself, if that's what it means to protect this village. Keep your village out of this." Tsunade said and turned to walk to the window. She peered out for a moment and glanced over her shoulder at Kakashi. "Find Hibiki and Minako, Red and Yuuki, Hotaru, Airi, and Illrima.

Kakashi nodded and disappeared from the room. Tsunade turned to Jatsu and nodded. "You may be dismissed."

Jatsu nodded. She gave the group an apologetic smile before walking out to return to her village.

Once Kakashi gathered all the shinobi that Tsunade had suggested, they all made their way to the gate and left the village.

"Has any of you heard about the Shi brothers?" Hibiki asked as they ran along.

Yuuki shook her head. "N-No. But judging by how badly they hurt Naruto, I'm guessing they're strong…"

Airi smirked as she let her tongue flick over her fangs. "I bet their blood would taste good."

"Shut up, vamp!" Illrima hissed as she hit Airi over the head.

"We're not there to suck their blood, we're there to distract and kill them." Hotaru stated and rolled her eyes.

Airi shrugged and smirked. "Tasting their blood is necessary for my jutsu's."

Hotaru sighed. "It's disgusting."

"Become a vampire and say that again." She smirked.

"Alright, we're not here to fight." Red murmured.

Illrima sighed. "Hibiki, do you know anything of these brothers?"

"Anything and everything." He chuckled.

Minako's eyes widened. "Y-You do?"

Hibiki glanced at Minako. "Of course." He chuckled. "Their kekkei genkai is one of the world's deadliest." He shrugged. "I've read up on a lot of kekkei genkai's."

"Shikamaru said they also use Kinjutsu…" Yuuki murmured.

Hibiki nodded. "Their story is famous through the Land of Demons. In order to live past nine years, you must conquer Haraguroi Himitsu, which is their kekkei genkai. Unfortunately, one couldn't conquer it and it spread through the younger into the older and they turned against their parents. When the priestess felt the demons presence, and it's strength, she sent some jounin to the house. The children had fled their house and fled the Land. They've been all over the world to a variety of villages, and their only goal is to kill; which most seems to be men. The older feels pity for woman since he was the one who murdered his mother."

Minako lowered her head and gritted her teeth. "H-How horrible…" She murmured.

"Heh, doesn't that mean you can relate, Minako?" Airi chuckled.

Minako's head snapped back to glare at Airi. "I did not murder my mother!" She screamed.

Hibiki glanced at Airi, but before he could speak, Red butted in. "You do not know her life's story." He stated. "She did not murder her mother, nor is she the monster you make her out to be." Red hissed.

Minako's eyes widened as she looked at Red in confusion. Yuuki also looked shocked. "Wh-Why are you standing up for Minako?" She whispered.

"Because we're all in the same situation." Red whispered back before turning to Airi. "She has done nothing wrong."

Airi shrugged. "Whatever. Thought it would be fun to bring it up." She smirked before avoiding everyone's gaze.

Minako narrowed her eyes before looking to the ground. "So the plan is that having so many girls should cause Masaru to snap?" She asked, looking up at Hibiki.

Hibiki chuckled and shook his head. "The Hokage is a strange woman. She has the idea that Masaru is literally a ladies man, not someone burdened by his mother's death."

Re's eyes widened and he turned to look at Hibiki. "I'm not allowing Yuuki to do that."

Hibiki shrugged. "You think I'm going to allow Minako to do the same?" He glanced at the other woman. "I doubt they'd agree."

Red nodded and glanced at the others as well. "Although, I wouldn't think she'd mind." He nodded towards Airi.

Airi blinked in surprise. "Wh-What do you mean?"

Hibiki sighed. "The Hokage was hoping the woman would be a distraction for Red and I to jump in and kill them. She was hoping Masaru would fall for a woman's charm. Yet, even if that were the case, Kenji doesn't care at all whether you're female or male, so he wouldn't even fall for it. Although, it'll be interesting to find out what happens between the two when one is compelled to kill you, but the other won't."

Yuuki smirked. "They'd probably turn on one another…"

Hibiki shrugged. "That's a possibility, although they are inseperable brothers."

"Everyone has their breaking point. It just has to be triggered." Illrima muttered quietly.

"We'll see if we reach that point before something bad happens." Hibiki murmured.

Minako grabbed Hibiki's hand, entwining their fingers. "Nothing bad will happen…" She murmured.

Hibiki glanced at Minako before turning his head back around. "Don't underestimate them, Minako. They are a very strong pair."

Minako nodded. "I-I know… I will keep my guard up…"

Red glanced at Hibiki and frowned before glancing at Yuuki. He knew what Hibiki was thinking, and he didn't like it one bit. After a few moments they slowed down to a hault after running for so long, and Red quickly leaned down to kiss Yuuki. Yuuki gasped slightly before breaking the kiss.

"Wh-What's wrong?" She asked nervously.

"I love you." He chuckled.

Yuuki smiled slightly and hugged him. "Don't scare me like that…" She murmured. "I love you too."

He smiled and grabbed a strand of her hair, twirling it slightly and kissed her again. "We get to use what I've been teaching you for the past few years."

Yuuki giggled and nodded. "Yep, I'm stoked."

Red hide his frown with a smile and turned back to following the group. He entwined his fingers with hers and glanced back at Hibiki. As much as he thought the man was interesting, he was very surprised at how his brain worked. The amount of information that flooded his mind was enough to give Red a headache. The constant information of different clans, of jutsu's he has seen and read about. One thing he understood about Hibiki, although he was slightly confused with, was his ability to imitate anyone's jutsu. Simply by seeing the jutsu, he could make it his own. He had no kekkei genkai himself and none of his own abilities; he was just a collage of a variety of different people.

He watched as Hibiki glanced at Minako and squeezed her hand gently. Throughout all the information flooding his mind, he was focusing on Minako. He knew how they met; he only knew Hibiki's story through Minako since Hibiki's mind held barriers whereas Minako hadn't. Red sighed and focused in on Minako, trying to learn more about Hibiki.

Yuuki frowned as she walked along side Red. She connected her mind to his so she could speak to him privately. _Kaito… why do you seem so upset… what have you read from Hibiki?_

We're not all going to survive, Yuuki. As much as we are, and as strong as we are, no one has actually ever survived fighting them.

Red replied.

Yuuki's eyes widened as she looked up at Red. _I-I can't lose you, Kaito…_

Red nodded. _I will die protecting you, Yuuki. I will do everything in my power to keep us alive. But… _He stopped and turned to Yuuki, placing his hands on either side of he face. _If we die…we die for the sake of the village, and I for you. _He leaned in to kiss her gently.

Yuuki pushed back tears that were brimming in her eyes as her hands reached up to rest on his arms. _I-I love you, Kaito… I will not allow myself to lose you… and I will not die myself… we will get through this. If we can defeat your brother, we can defeat these unstable brothers…_

Red chuckled and brought her into a tight embrace, kissing her once again. _We will use our genjutsu the best we can to defeat them._

Yuuki nodded as she let out a breath. _I guess I'll have to let Mya out. _She smirked against his lips.

Hibiki glanced back and cleared his throat. "We're on a mission here."

Red shrugged as he continued to kiss Yuuki. Hibiki sighed and turned to continue on the way. "Don't get too far behind."

Yuuki broke the kiss and took Red's hand as they started following again. "Lighten up, Hibiki. I'm surprised you're not taking the time to kiss Minako." She smirked.

Minako shook her head as she looked at the ground, a small smirk playing at her lips.

Hibiki chuckled. "I'm just more subtle at it."

Yuuki shrugged. "Uh huh."

Hibiki sighed and glanced at Minako, squeezing her hand gently and smiled. Minako looked up and gave him a small smile in return.

"Tayori, you're so beautiful!" Kazue smiled as she sat on the bench outside the hospital.

Tayori blushed slightly and hugged her mother lightly, being careful of her bandages. She pulled back and twirled once more. The dress was a brilliant yellow despite the cloudy day, and it lit up her beautiful dark blue eyes. Her blonde hair waving in the wind. Kazue smiled and glanced at Nikito seated beside her.

Nikito carefully moved his arm around Kazue's shoulders and smiled. "I'm glad you're feeling a bit better."

Kazue smiled. "It still hurts." She murmured and leaned her head on his shoulder. "But I do feel a bit better."

"When Itomi returns from his mission, I will have him heal you…"

Tsuki sighed as she sat on the bench on Nikito's left. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?" She asked for what seemed like the millionth time since Jatsu left.

Nikito sighed and ruffled Tsuki's hair. "Your father wont be back for a while, and your mom should be home any day now."

Tsuki lowered her head and frowned. "I-I miss them…"

Kazue nodded. "I miss them too." She looked across Nikito's torso to smile at Tsuki.

"Glad to know I'm missed." Jatsu smirked as she approached the bench.

"Mommy!" Tsuki gasped as she jumped from the bench to run at her mother.

Jatsu quickly picked up Tsuki and held her close. "Hey sweetie." She smiled.

"Mommy home! Mommy home!"

Kazue smiled at Jatsu and turned back to Nikito. "I guess duty calls now." She murmured.

Nikito sighed and moved to kiss Kazue before standing up to approach Jatsu. "So? How'd it go?"

Jatsu sighed. "I wish the journey was shorter… I'm afraid Lady Hokage plans on sending a group of shinobi after the brothers. She believes sending a large group of females will be the key…"

Nikito's eyes widened as he shook his head. "N-No… did you not explain-"

"Because I explained that Kazue is alive, and that Masaru had a soft spot, it led her to that idea.. I'm sorry. She would not listen to me. She intends to kill these two, even if she has to go into battle herself."

"Lady Tsunade is a strange woman." Kazue chuckled.

Jatsu nodded. Nikito sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "I-It'd be useless to send another message?"

Jatsu nodded. "She's determined…"

Nikito sighed and nodded. "Alright, I guess theres nothing more that can be done besides to wait…"

"Are you going to send a group yourself?" Kazue asked as Tayori climbed onto her lap and sat on her good leg.

Nikito opened his mouth to reply when Jatsu interrupted. "Tsunade told me to also tell you not to interfere… she does not want any other villages help…"

Nikito's eyes widened. "S-So… she's willing to sacrifice her own shinobi?"

Jatsu shrugged. "I knew some of the names she spoke of. I know she was choosing some of her best shinobi… I mean, with Naruto being injured and all…"

"Naruto was injured?" Tayori gasped.

Kazue looked down at Tayori with a raised eyebrow. "You know Naruto?" Kazue asked and laughed.

Tayori shrugged. "He sounds like a nice guy, mommy." She laughed cutely.

Jatsu laughed but nodded. "It seems that Naruto's shoulder was hurt, and by the looks of his wound, it moved down his arm… Shikamaru was also attacked, as was Kakashi. She also said several other jounin had been murdered."

Nikito started pacing as he shook his head, drifting into deep thought. Jatsu chuckled slightly and looked to Kazue. "How do you snap him from this?"

Kazue reached up to scratch her cheek and she laughed lightly. "Well…"

Jatsu shook her head and chuckled. "Nevermind…"

"Hey, Nikito…" Kazue reached over to grab his hand, entwining her fingers in his. "Wakey, wakey…" She snickered.

Nikito blinked a few times before looking at Kazue. "Wh-What?"

"There you go." Kazue smiled at Jatsu and laughed.

"Nikito, what do you want to do? Listen to Tsunade or not?" Jatsu asked.

Nikito sighed. "I-I am not supposed to interfere with other villages if I am not called upon. I have no choice but to follow Tsunade's wishes…" He murmured before sitting back down beside Kazue, holding his face in his hands.

Kazue sighed and placed her hand on his arm. "Just have faith in her abilities and her knowledge." Kazue whispered. "She's sending her best shinobi."

Nikito sighed and nodded before sitting up and facing Kazue with a weak smile. "I love you, Kazue."

Kazue smiled. "I love you too."

"And I love you both!" Tayori laughed and smiled at her parents.

Nikito smirked and patted Tayori's head. "And we love you too, sweetie."

Tayori laughed and went to jump into Nikito's arms, in the meantime hitting Kazue's bad leg. Kazue gasped in pain. Nikito caught Tayori and moved her in his arms before looking at Kazue. "You alright?" He asked nervously.

"Sorry." Tayori whispered and buried her face in Nikito's chest.

Kazue let out a shaky breath and gritted her teeth while nodding. "Yeah."

Jatsu let out a sigh before looking at Nikito. "When is Itomi supposed to be home?"

"Anyday now." Nikito murmured, looking up at Jatsu.

"Any second you mean." Itomi stated as he walked up behind Jatsu and wrapped his arms around both her and Tsuki.

"Daddy!" Tsuki grinned.

Jatsu smiled. "About time you returned."

Itomi shrugged. "It urned out long then we thought it would." He glanced at Nikito. "We found out something that you are definitely going to like." He chuckled.

Nikito blinked in surprise. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, we…" His eyes drifted to Kazue and his brow raised. "What happened?"

Jatsu's smile faded as she looked down. Nikito sighed deeply and shook his head. "The Shi Brothers…"

"Shi…brothers?" Itomi asked.

"Long story short, they are two brothers that kill all in their path. Kazue just barely made it home alive." Jatsu murmured.

Itomi frowned. "Shall I go find them?"

Nikito shook his head. "The Hokage has her shinobi after these two already. She has asked no other villages to interfere."

Itomi nodded. "I'm considering defying both your orders." He chuckled.

Nikito narrowed his eyes. "Do not even try it, Itomi."

Itomi shrugged and ran his hand through his hair. "And if I do?"

"I'll be mad at you…" Jatsu murmured.

Nikito sighed. "Itomi, I need you here to help Kazue. You're the best healer we possess in this village. Because of her condition, it's more dangerous for her to be in this state than it would be for someone like Jatsu, you or I. Can I ask you to do this instead of defying my orders of keeping out of this fight?"

Itomi sighed. "Alright." He murmured and stepped forward. He placed hi hand lightly against her skin just below her neck and his hand started to glow a teal colour. Kazue's eyes widened and she looked up at Itomi with terror. Itomi shrugged and reached to grab her shoulder so she couldn't struggle to get away.

"I-Itomi!" Kazue gritted her teeth and shut her eyes.

Nikito's face twisted in confusion. "Th-This is new…"

A groan came from Kazue and she tried to push back. "I-It hurts!"

Itomi lowered his head and concentrated more. "Sorry 'bout this…"

Jatsu shook her head. "Kazue, relax…" She murmured, watching nervously.

His hand brightened from the teal colour until it turned a bright white. When it reached pure white, it shot like a shockwave away from Kazue and he stepped back. Kazue's eyes were wide as she leaned back against the back of the bench.

"M-Mommy?" Tayori shouted and pushed on her mother's arms.

"W-what…?" Kazue's mouth parted as she stared at Itomi.

He laughed nervously. "It's my strongest healing jutsu. I haven't really been able to experiment too far, but I've been able to heal major things with it." He chuckled.

Kazue turned her face to her leg and she slowly bent it. She did the same with her arm before attempting to stand. Nikito's eyes widened as he looked from Itomi to Kazue, his hands out, prepared to catch her if she were to fall.

"I-I had no idea you were this good, hun…" Jatsu murmured, also looking at Kazue with shock.

Itomi shrugged. "I don't particularily like to use it, because the worse the wound is, the worst it hurts."

Kazue nodded. "It hurt very much." She murmured.

"B-But… you are okay now?" Nikito asked Kazue nervously.

"Except for the pain in my chest, I feel better everywhere else." She chuckled.

"It'll go away in a few hours or so." Itomi said and scratched his cheek.

"Hours?" Kazue's eyes widened and she sat back down. "I'd rather be broken again."

Nikito shook his head. "It's dangerous for you to be… broken…"

Kazue shook her head. "I know, but it hurts." She grimaced.

Nikito sighed. "I'm sorry, but even I'd prefer you in minor pain for a few hours then having broken bones."

"It's not minor pain!" Kazue shouted and Itomi murmured at the same time. Kazue glanced at Itomi and sighed. "I'm sorry, Nikito." She whispered and gripped his kage cloak.

Nikito shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, Kazue. I wish I could take your pain for you…"

Kazue shook her head. "I'll…manage." She winced.

Nikito sighed and sat back down beside Kazue, placing his arm around her shoulders.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Jatsu asked Nikito.

"Until I get word on the Shi Brothers, I refuse to send any of my shinobi out. When shinobi return from their missions, no one leaves until I know what is happening with these brothers." He murmured.

"You can send me again." Kazue smiled.

Nikito turned to stare blankly at Kazue. "No."

"Aw, come on…" She whispered and grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers with his.

Nikito shook his head. "Not even two minutes ago, you were saying how much pain you were in. You're not going anywhere."

Kazue chuckled and shook her head. "As much as I would like to smash their faces in, I'm not in the condition or state of mind to go." She murmured and wrapped her free arm around his waist. "I can't bare to think of you and Tayori alone."

Nikito frowned and placed his chin on top of her head. "I'd be so lost without you…" He murmured. "And Tayori would never be the same without her mother."

Kazue nodded and buried her face into his chest. "I'd be lost without you too."

He smiled softly and kissed her head.


	7. Chapter 7

"They're near." Hibiki murmured and came to a hault.

The others stopped behind Hibiki. Yuuki pulled out her dagger and held it tightly. Minako let out a breath.

"What's the plan, yah smart-alec?" Airi murmured to Hibiki, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hibiki glanced at Airi and sighed. "Red, you and Yuuki are genjutsu users, am I correct?"

Yuuki nodded. "We could use your illusions here. And while you two are using the illusions, I want Airi to go out and distract them momentarily. Minako and Illrima will take them from the side, and I'll take them from behind. "Airi and Illrima will target the one in red, and Minako and I will take the other. Only target that one person. Hotaru…you know what to do." He winked at Hotaru and Hotaru nodded.

"Got it." She chuckled.

"Red and Yuuki, keep the illusion strong, and use it wisely in helping." Hibiki murmured.

Yuuki nodded firmly and looked up at Red.

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, connecting her mind to Red's. Red connected to her mind as well.

"Alright, we'll have them in the middle - you go that way, I'll go this way. You know what to do." Red winked and turned to sneak to the enemies right.

Yuuki nodded slowly and quickly moved to the enemies left. When Yuuki found a spot well hidden from the enemies, but so she was just able to see them, she knelt down in the dirt beside a tree and focused on the enemies at hand. Two brothers, one older and one younger. One was in a red cloak, the other had a blue sweater. _You good, Red?_

_Yeah, you? _Red replied.

_Mhm. _Yuuki's voice was barely heard and she closed her eyes slowly.

She could feel her chakra mixing with Red's. She also knew that the brother's could feel something happening.

Red sighed softly and closed his eyes slowly. Over all the years of practicing this particular genjutsu, they were actually putting it to practise. He lowered his head and focused on the two males, there being, and every thought and memories of theirs. He could read them like a book, and nothing was hidden. He didn't know whether to feel sorrow or whether to be disgusted with them.

Hibiki nodded to the three females before sneaking his way to behind the two. Airi was the first move in this chess game.

Airi slowly stepped into the clearing where the brothers stood. She smirked as she looked from one to the other.  
"Interesting scents…" She licked her fangs with her tongue, placing her finger to her cheek as she looked over the males.

Masaru smirked and chuckled deeply. "What's this? Some sort of vampire?"

Airi nodded. "That's exactly what I am."

Kenji raised a brow as he looked the female over. "Will you allow me to kill this one, Masaru?" Kenji asked quietly.

Masaru glanced at Kenji before looking back at the female. "O-Only if she attacks first…" He muttered, biting his lip and closing his eyes.

"Aw, is someone afraid of females?" Airi smirked as she looked over Masaru.

Masaru gritted his teeth. "I-I'm not afraid of girls!" He growled, his body trembling - he could feel the chakra of four other girls, adding one with the female before him. One girl he could handle, but five? He was screwed…

Kenji sighed and began to walk towards Airi in a brisk manner. His eyes were narrowed and in a few long strides, he stood five feet in front of her. "He may have issues with woman, but I don't." He smirked.

Airi smirked and licked her fangs again. "But you, the little brother, so inferior to your older sibling, is under orders not to attack unless I make the first move. So, unless you plan to go against his orders, you cannot harm me in anyway." She laughed in Kenji's face as she twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers.

Kenji chuckled slightly as he circled around her slowly, stopping behind her and reached out to take a lock of her hair. "If I dare to go against his orders, I could snap you like a twig." He said softly.

Airi shut her eyes and chuckled. She spun back around to face Kenji. "You pathetic shinobi are surrounded - outnumbered - you're bound to lose."

"We're not shinobi, girl." Masaru chuckled. "We never went through an academy."

Airi smirked. "None the less…"

"And we've fought more shinobi then you seven. And they were much more of a challenge… if I gave Kenji the word, he could kill you with ease…"

"But you will not, Masaru Shi. You're too pathetic to allow him to attack me without reason." She smirked.

Kenji narrowed his eyes and stepped closer so that his face was inches from hers. "Our situation is none of your business. You should be glad that you're still alive due to his kindness."

Airi laughed in his face. "Aw, did I upset you? Did I degrade your older brother? Is it making your blood boil?" She smirked and licked her lips. "Oh how I'd love to taste your blood."

Kenji smirked. "My blood is tainted."

She shrugged. "So? I like tainted blood the most."

Kenji began to chuckle and he shook his head. He reached out slowly and cautiously pulling her bottom lip down to see her fangs. "My blood would rather kill you then make you feel pleasure."

Airi pulled her face back and smirked. "Oh really?"

Kenji nodded slowly. "Haraguroi Himitsu lives within the both of us, and it's poison to the body. One drop sucked from these…" He dragged his finger lightly over the sharp fang. "It would cause you immense pain."

Airi laughed. "And what if I told you… that I've tasted blood of your kind before?"

"Our kind?" He asked, slowly withdrawing his hand.

"Ones like you who possess Haraguroi Himitsu…" She smirked.

Kenji chuckled again. "Would you like to test the theory?"

Airi laughed. "And give that your chance to strike? I think not."

Kenji smirked and shook his head. "I'm under orders, remember?"

"And if I sink my fangs into your flesh, that's considered taking the first move."

Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Then why're you here? You're here to kill us, what are you waiting for? Waiting for Masaru to allow me to strike? Is that what you're waiting for?" Kenji chuckled and turned his back to Airi, walking forwards and turning around. "Five females and two males. Two genjutsu users, three cornering us, and one distraction." He lowered his head, focusing. "Where's the other? Below us? Above us? In us?"

Airi smirked and shrugged. "Getting worried?" She chuckled and shook her head. "I'm not telling you nothing. And as for what I'm waiting for? I'm just following my own orders, nothing more, nothing less."

"Some orders." Kenji stated and walked forwards towards her again. "Some distraction…Vampire." He hissed and began to walk towards his brother.

Airi laughed. "No one said they'd be good, but at least I'm keeping your attention on me slightly."

Kenji returned to his spot beside Masaru and turned to look at Airi again. "Attention on you? You're just a pathetic woman who Masaru simply feels pity for."

Masaru sighed and looked over Airi. "This is your only chance. Take your comrades and leave us be." He hissed.

Airi laughed. "We're under orders from the Hokage to take you two outcasts down!"

Kenji chuckled and glanced to his brother. "I'm on my last line, Masaru." He whispered. "Can you just get over yourself and give me the go ahead?" He asked quietly.

"No." Masaru hissed. His fists were clenched, his body trembling.

Kenji sighed and glanced at his brother again. He could see his brothers trembling body and he slowly turned to look at Airi. He narrowed his eyes and stuck his finger up, asking for a quick second. He stepped in front of Masaru, shielding Airi and Masaru's vision from each other.

"I know vampires have a charm thing, but don't tell me you're falling for it." He whispered.

"Th-That's not it at all…" Masaru murmured, narrowing his eyes on Kenji.

"Masaru, we're surrounded by seven, if we don't act now it won't be pretty."

Masaru scoffed. "Are you doubting us now?" He hissed.

Kenji shook his head. "I said it wouldn't be pretty - I know we'd win."

Masaru sighed. "Wh-Why did they have to bring so many girls…?" He growled under his breath, lowering his head.

Kenji rolled his eyes. "Considering the fact that if it weren't for me provoking all the others, every single woman would be let loose."

Masaru gritted his teeth. "I-I can't help it…"

Kenji shook his head. "If I provoke her?"

"I-I said if she attacked first…" He muttered.

Kenji sighed. "She's a woman, Masaru. We're better than them all. We were better than mother."

Masaru's eyes widened as he lifted his head and gripped Kenji's shoulders. "What the hell did I tell you?" He hissed, his voice raising slightly.

Kenji narrowed his eyes. He could see the edges of Masaru's eyes beginning to turn darker. Kenji shook his head and pushed his arms away, turning back to Airi. He withdrew a kunai and began to walk forwards.

Hotaru walked the perimeter of the area, passing both Yuuki and Red by ten feet. When she walked a full circle she walked further away from where the battle was being held and found a small area in the woods where light shone through and brightened the ground. She smiled softly and circled the edge of where the sun and darkness mixed before sitting gracefully in the middle of the circle she walked. Closing her eyes, and she crossed her legs and made a seal in front of her chest with her hands. Her long pink hair flowed around her gently in the wind and she allowed her breathing to slow. She could feel her heartbeat slowing and her mind began to relax, mixing in with the surroundings around her and the enemies. She could see everything clearly in her head from each and every perspective.

She allowed one last breath to leave her before her heart completely stopped. Where others would think she was dead, Hotaru simply felt like she was sleeping on a cloud. A wall of undetected chakra circled the path that she walked around the battle area and closed in around them. She could feel the different chakra's of her teamates along with two unknown chakra's - presumably the brothers; it was dark, and Hotaru grimaced slightly at the feeling of it.

Hibiki smirked as he felt the chakra of Hotaru surrounding him. He knew Hotaru's jutsu inside out thus allowing him to sense the otherwise undetected chakra, although he hadn't taken it for himself, but he could faintly tell that she had it in place.

Airi smirked as Kenji approached her with the kunai. "Going against orders now?"

Kenji smirked and continued to walk forwards, holding the kunai out with his hand.

Airi slowly pulled a kunai, narrowing her eyes. "Make a move then. Go against your older brothers will." She hissed

Kenji smirked and withdrew his arm before thrusting his arm forward, stopping just before the tip of the kunai pricked her skin; the sharp point rested gently against the skin of her stomach, his head resting right beside hers. He let out a growl. "You're bold." He whispered sharply.

"Pathetic." She hissed into his ear. "So nervous of your brother? What would he do, kill you?" She smirked. "Guess no love exists between the two of you." She whispered.

Kenji chuckled. "You do not know how our relationship runs. He wouldn't kill me, he'd be angry, but then he'd eventually get over himself like he did his mother." He whispered so Masaru couldn't hear.

Airi gritted her teeth. "I don't get why the two of you had to go evil… you two could have been useful in this world…" She murmured.

"This is our world, and we reign above it." He murmured, dragging the tip of the kunai across her stomach, being careful not to break the skin.

Airi shook her head. "Did you two not ever want friends? Isn't it lonely with only having each other? Does stuff like friendship, love or loyalty even matter to you guys?" She muttered, lowering her head slightly. "I used to be like you guys…" She whispered.

Kenji chuckled. "Friendship? My brother and I have an inseperable friendship. Love? Our love is mutual, and unbreakable. And Loyalty? We're more loyal to each other then a male in a female have a relationship that only lasts so long and diminishes like the wind. Ours is stronger than the world can comprehend - then you can comprehend." He chuckled again. "You were never like either of us."

"You think not?" She murmured. "I had an older brother… and I killed him." She whispered. "Him and I were like you and Masaru.. We traveled the lands, killing all we found… one day I snapped on him, and killed him." She shook her head. "One day either you or Masaru will snap, and on that day… one of you will die." She hissed.

Kenji smirked and leaned his mouth to her ear. "We're stronger than you and your brother are."

Airi gritted her teeth, her body starting to tremble. "Take that back…" She hissed.

"And female-male sibling relationship will never be a strong bond. There is nothing in common with the being." He chuckled and narrowed his eyes. "It was probably your pathetic hormones."

Airi's eyes widened as she clenched her fists. "You bastard! Y-You know nothing!" She screamed. She quickly turned her head and sank her fangs into his throat, getting a taste of his tainted blood.

Kenji gritted his teeth and shoved the kunai past her skin and deep into her stomach, grabbing her throat with his other hand and pushing her back. Airi gritted her teeth in pain as a scream left her lips. Suddenly, a sticky web wrapped around Kenji, causing him to drop Airi to the forest floor. Masaru's eyes widened. As he went to pull out a kunai, he was tackled to the ground.

Masaru's eyes widened as he looked up at a pink-haired female. "M-Minako… Uma?"

Minako smirked. "I'm more known then you and your pathetic sibling!" She laughed.

Hibiki made his way from the forest and glanced at Minako and Masaru. Masaru quickly grabbed Minako's throat and threw her in Hibiki's direction as he moved back to his feet. Minako gasped as she quickly skidded across the ground, stopping before she hit Hibiki.

Hibiki narrowed his eyes and helped Minako back to her feet. "How does it feel to wrap your hands around a woman throat?" Hibiki asked.

Masaru narrowed his eyes at Hibiki, looking down at his hand. It was still trembling. He gritted his teeth and looked away from Hibiki. Minako held her throat and tried to catch her breath. "H-His strength… don't let him get his hands on you…" She murmured.

Hibiki glanced at Minako's throat and back at Masaru. He walked behind Minako and pulled her hair back and up, looking over her throat. It was bright red from Masaru's grip and was already beginning to bruise. "How sad, the marks you've given her." He said slowly, pronouncing his words clearly.

Masaru gritted his teeth again. "Shut up! I-I had to!"

Hibiki raised a brow. "Like you had to kill your mother?"

Masaru's eyes widened. "N-No! I-I… shut up! Just who the hell do you think you are?" He yelled, clenching his fists - he wanted to harm the male, but he had the female with him.

Hibiki smiled. "Well, I'm Hiroshimo, Hibiki." Hibiki stated. "You don't have to introduce yourself, I've known about you for years."

Masaru growled as he looked from Hibiki to Minako. "Drop the girl and let us fight like actual men!"

Hibiki smirked as he looked the man over carefully before wrapping his arms around Minako's shoulders, kissing her cheek lightly. "Like men? A man protects his girl, and if this keeps her safe…why would I move?"

Masaru growled. "How disgusting! How could you even touch her in anyway besides harm!"

Hibiki shrugged. "Is that what told yourself the night you killed your mother after so many years of your mothers loving affection?"

Masaru's eyes widened. "Sh-She… she was just a victim to the Haraguroi Himitsu… j-just like Kenji and I are… y-you know nothing of my beloved mother!" He screamed.

Hibiki shrugged. "I don't know her personally, but I know information you wouldn't think I know. Besides, a real man knows how to love." He smirked and turned Minako's head to kiss her lightly on the lips. "A real man…is a gentleman."

Masaru's mouth gaped as he stared at Minako and Hibiki. He tried to speak but no words seem to come out.

Minako smirked and turned to look at Masaru. "Not that you'd know what that even means."

Masaru clenched his fists. "Sh-Shut up! You scum!"

Minako narrowed her eyes. "If you know who I am, you know that's a bad idea." She hissed.

Masaru growled. "Yeah, I know your story. You're known as "The Village Psycho" back in Sunagakure…" He shook his head. "They say you snap and become some sort of monster, so what! I have something way more powerful! I could snap you like a twig!"

Minako smirked. "As if! You're too damn scared to even come near me!"

Masaru gritted his teeth. "N-No…"

Hibiki moved his hands to take a hold of Minako's wrist as he held them behind her head and made her walk forwards. "Does Minako not fit the definition of a victim?" He asked.

Masaru took a step back and growled. "N-No… she's not like me!"

Minako smirked. "You think not? I am taken over by an evil I cannot control, just as you are."

"N-No! It's not the same! Stay away from me!" Masaru screamed.

Hibiki continued to move forwards, pushing Minako forwards as well. Masaru shook his head again as his eyes were wide with terror. He nervously moved his hands in front of himself in a seal. "D-don't make me do this! Please!" He begged.

Hibiki stopped and bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to provoke Masaru to come towards them, but he didn't want to cause any harm to Minako. He took a small step backwards as a sign to Masaru and paused. "Terrified of what a woman can do?" Hibiki questioned mockingly.

Masaru growled and moved his hands higher - maybe he could avoid the girl and still hit the male? His mind was foggy, he was forgetting half of the jutsu's he knew, and all because of a female? It wasn't right. He shook his head and closed his eyes, letting a breath. "I won't let this girl stop me. I will kill her if it means making you shut that smart mouth of yours!"

Hibiki narrowed his eyes and let go of her wrists, moving to stand ten feet to her left. "We're both your enemies, Masaru." Hibiki stated, narrowing his eyes and bracing himself for anything to come.

Masaru glanced at Minako before looking back at Hibiki and narrowing his eyes. "So? I'm more kind then Kenji is…"

"Kind is the wrong word." Hibiki murmured. "Merciful towards woman would be the better phrase."

Masaru gritted his teeth. "I told you to shut that smart mouth!" Masaru quickly formed three other seals before he closed his eyes, a black aura forming around his body. When he opened his eyes again, they were black and empty. "I don't like you, Hiroshimo, Hibiki! And I will kill you if it's the last thing I do!"

Minako's eyes widened as she quickly looked to Hibiki. "H-Hibiki…"

Hibiki glanced at Minako and smiled softly. "I love you." He lipped to her before turning back to look at Masaru. He made a quick few hand seals before running towards Masaru.

Minako's eyes widened as she watched closely, biting her lip. Masaru smirked as he quickly ran towards Hibiki in return, his fists glowing with the same aura. Just before the two were about to collide, Hibiki disappeared and reappeared behind Masaru, thrusting his hands towards Masaru's back. Masaru gasped, his body stopped moving and he fell to the ground. "Wh-What… is this?" He hissed, weakly looking up at Hibiki.

Hibiki smirked and shrugged. "A little something I picked up along my life journey. Temporary paralysis…" He bent down beside Masaru and reached for his throat. "I could slit your throat right here." He whispered.

Kenji glanced at Masaru laying on the ground to his far left. Hibiki was bent over him, his hand to his throat. He had managed to escape Illrima's web and the two girls working together posed Kenji a challenge. He quickly dodged Airi attack, and then Illrima's, slowly making his way towards Hibiki before lunging at the man and tackling him to the ground.

"Masaru, you idiot! Stand!" Kenji shouted.

Masaru struggled against the jutsu but was unable to move. "I-I can't…"

Minako's eyes widened. She wanted to help Hibiki, but she knew Masaru would only be trapped for so long. She spotted Illrima and Airi going to assist Hibiki and quickly pulled out a kunai, heading towards Masaru. Masaru's eyes widened as he spotted Minako heading towards him. He tried struggling more when suddenly his body began to obet him and he could move freely. Minako's eyes widened as she gritted her teeth.

"Damnit!" She shouted as she tried to land a hit on Masaru.

Masaru blocked her attacks as terror crossed his face again. "Leave me alone, girl!" He shouted.

Minako smirked and quickly pulled the kunai across Masaru's stomach. The male gasped and kicked Minako away on an instinct. Minako flew back against a nearby tree and gasped in pain. Masaru gasped and looked down at his hands, shaking again. "S-Stop making me hurt you!" He screamed.

Minako winced as she climbed back onto her feet and ran full speed towards Masaru. He gasped and braced himself for an attack. She quickly kicked out his legs and was about to punch him when Masaru grabbed her wrist. Minako gasped at the strength and struggled to get free - she could feel her bones close to a breaking point - one quick movement and he could break her wrist. Masaru smirked. "You're really starting to piss me off, girl."

Minako gritted her teeth. "I don't care!" She shouted, her eyes narrowing, her one eye twitching as her mind slowly started to slip into insanity.

Masaru watched her closely in confusion, something was changing about her being, could this be the monster she possessed? Minako quickly thrusted her other fist towards Masaru, however he caught that one too. He slowly stood, Minako's wrists still in his grasp. "I-Interesting…" He muttered, looking over her.

Minako growled as she quickly slipped from his grasp and kicked him back. Before he could stand again, she charged at him and pounced on his back, taking a kunai and stabbing it into his back several times. Masaru screamed out in pain as he struggled to get her off of him.

Kenji could hear his brothers screams behind him. He kept his eyes on Airi and Illrima, along with Hibiki as they slowly approached. Kenji eyed Hibiki carefully; if Hibiki was here, then Masaru was left only to the female. He sighed - he knew a woman would be the death of him. As he slowly backed up, Kenji arrowed his eyes on the three before turning and quickly running towards Minako and Masaru. He watched as she continued to thrust the kunai into Masaru's back and he stopped behind her.

Apparently she hadn't heard him approach, because she continued to stab Masaru. Kenji quickly reached around Minako and placed his hands over her chin and pulling her head back as he dragged his thumb across her throat. The sharp black blade from Haraguroi Himitsu protruded from his fingers and covered her wound in black. Kenji smiled down at Minako's widened eyes before pushing her off Masaru.

Minako gasped and tried to scream, but nothing came out. Her eyes darted around until she spotted Hibiki. His face showed pure terror. She forced her lips up into a smile as her body collapsed to the ground. _I love you, Hibiki… I'm so sorry…_

Hibiki turned his wide eyes from Minako to Kenji, his feelings turning from unbelief to absolute hatred. His body began to tremble as he charged Kenji.

"Idiot! Stand!" Kenji screamed at his brother. "Pathetic, pathetic loser! A woman, Masaru! A stupid, idiotic, useless woman!"

Illrima's eyes widened as she watched Hibiki charge. "Hibiki, don't! You're not thinking straight!" She screamed, trying to reach for him.

Hibiki ignored Illrima and made a few hand seals. "You're dead!" He screamed.

Red narrowed his eyes at the ground and focused more on Hibiki and Masaru. Kenji's eyes flickered between both Masaru and Hibiki, and somewhere in between, they switched places. Kenji was taken aback as he stared at "Masaru".

"M-Masaru?" Kenji asked, turning in complete confusion.

Hibiki rammed his hands forwards and thrusted them into Kenji's chest, sending him flying back. He charged Kenji again. Kenji could only see Masaru. He quickly stood back up and dodged the man's attacks.

"Masaru! Get a _hold_ of yourself! It's just a woman! Who cares?"

"I loved her, you moron!" Hibiki shouted and thrusting his fists at Kenji.

Kenji continued to dodge the punches, staring in complete confusion at Masaru. "L-love? What? How could you love that pathetic girl? You never loved any! We never loved any! What is wrong with you?" Kenji gritted his teeth.

Hibiki's eyes began to pool with tears and he managed a kick to Kenji's head. He flew backwards and landed against a tree, rolling to the ground on his stomach. His head began to spin and he felt like throwing up.

Illrima quickly ran for Hibiki and grabbed onto him. "Stop! You'll end up getting killed at this rate!"

Airi stepped in Hibiki's view. "Just take a breath, man…"

Masaru stumbled to his feet and over to Kenji, dropping to his knees beside him, panting. "K-Kenji… you alright?"

Kenji turned his head to look at his brother before lunging at him and tackling him to the ground. "You idiot! You're so stupid!" He shouted, thrusting his fist at Masaru and punching him hard in the face.

Masaru took the hit, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. "What the hell are you hurting me for, bastard? We're on the same side!"

"Really? Are we really?" Kenji let out a frustrated groan as he punched Masaru again.

Masaru growled and flipped Kenji so he was pinned. "Stop hurting me, Kenji! We've always been on the same side! I don't get what's wrong with you!"

"I knew I should of killed you that night." Kenji murmured and narrowed his eyes up at Masaru. "Haraguroi Himitsu was right." He hissed.

Hibiki slowly made his way over to Minako and dropped to hi knee's. Black goo covered the wound and slowly began to spread. Her eyes were widened, and almost lifeless. Her lips quivered and her eyes flickered around. Hibiki narrowed his eyes as tears fell from the edges. He reached down and placed his hand over the black goo. It burn his skin, but he ignored it as his hand began to glow green. If the Fernu's healing powers didn't work now, she was definitely going to die.

Masaru's eyes widened with shock. "Wh-What are you talking about, Kenji? Stop being like this!"

"He never liked you, Masaru. So many nights, he coaxed me to kill you. You're lucky I decided to spare you." He whispered, narrowing his eyes.

Masaru's eyes widened more as he searched Kenji's eyes. "Y-You've lied to me all these years… you never conquered it! Why have you been lying to me!"

Kenji chuckled and shoved Masaru off him before standing. His back was to everyone as he continued to chuckle. "Oh, Masaru, if only you knew." He laughed. He pulled his red hood down and unhooked it, throwing it to the side. He reached down and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up and off his body, throwing it towards the cloak. His mask went with it.

"He favoured me, Masaru." Kenji stated and slowly turned around to face his brother.

Masaru shook his head. "K-Kenji, listen to yourself! This isn't you!" Masaru gritted his teeth in fear.

Kenji narrowed his eyes and made an unknown hand seal, unknown to everyone in the world, the only hand seal that Haraguroi Himitsu had taught Kenji.

"Shiroi Hiragura Mitsu." Kenji whispered and drew his thumb horizontally across his navel and again just below his ribs. "If only you knew…" He whispered.

From his ribs to his navel, Kenji's skin began to spit, being replaced by the common thick black goo. It pushed outwards and slowly took over his body, quickly consuming his torso. Kenji chuckled as his eyes turned black.

Masaru's eyes were wide with fear and sorrow as he looked over his brother. He shook his head and clenched his fists. "Kenji… no… please, I can't lose you like this…"

The goo continued to spread before eventually taking over his entire body. A deep low chuckle emitted from his throat as he stared at Masaru. "You're weak."

Masaru shook his head as he looked over Kenji. "Kenji, please! Snap out of this! I-I beg you!" He shouted, tears forming in his eyes - he couldn't lose his little brother.

"Too late." Haraguroi Himitsu spoke said. A laugh erupted from his throat.

Masaru shook his head, a few tears slipping. He gritted his teeth and faced the group of shinobi around him. "P-Please, if you all value your lives, run!"

Airi and Illrima's eyes widened as they looked to Hibiki. Hibiki glanced back at the two before looking at Masaru. "We cannot do that, we were sent here to dispose of you two."

Masaru shook his head. "P-Please… I understand you not trusting me, but I know Kenji will kill me! You all will just be wasting your lives staying here! Please, go!"

Hibiki narrowed his eyes and glanced at the two woman, nodding towards the woods. He picked Minako's body up and the four of them retreated to the woods. He stopped a few yards into the woods and set Minako's body down. "One way or another, they both must die." Hibiki stated.

Himitsu chuckled as he looked at Masaru. "Little boy still has his humanity. Weak, just as I said."

Masaru closed his eyes, more tears slipping from his eyes. "I-I'm so sorry… Kenji… I failed you, little brother…" He murmured, his body glowing the dark aura. _I cannot allow him to advance past me. It ends now!_

Himitsu began to laugh hysterically. "You think you can use me against myself? I gave you those powers, boy. I can take them away just as easily."

Masaru's eyes widened as he looked back up at the creature that was once his brother. He gritted his teeth and the aura faded. "Fine. Be that way." He hissed, charging towards the creature, his fists clenched.

Himitsu smirked and faded from Masaru's vision. "You really think you could destroy me?"

Masaru stopped and looked around. "No. I know this is where I die. But I know that I refuse to allow you to live on. You took my brother from me! My mother, my father! I will use everything I've got to ensure you're dead before I fall!"

Hibiki sighed and looked to Airi and Illrima. "We're helping him." Hibiki stated and stood.

Airi's eyes widened. "A-Are you nuts, Hibiki?"

Illrima nodded. "We'll die…"

Hibiki shook his head. "Red and Yuuki has the environment under control. Hotaru's jutsu has been working for while now - they're weak, and we're strong. Once we destroy Kenji, we can take down Masaru directly after."

Airi sighed. "Fine, I'll do it!" She groaned and ran off towards the brothers.

Hibiki stared after Airi before quickly following.

Hotaru shut her eyes tighter. The introduction of the new chakra was overwhelmingly strong. One of the enemies chakra had been completely overtaken and replaced with a stronger feel of the same chakra. Hibiki had explained to her about the Haraguroi Himitsu, and this is what she assumed was the host of this chakra. Her body still felt light, and as much as she tried, diminishing his chakra to make it weaker posed a challenge, but she knew she had to focus as much as possible, even if it drained her of her own chakra.

Himitsu looked past Masaru to where the others charged back out of the woods. He chuckle and smirked. "Good…" He murmured and cracked his knuckles. "I was just getting started."


	8. Chapter 8

"Minako…" Hibiki murmured and reached over to place his hand on Minako's. He had long ago crawled over to Minako's body, and after lying there for a few seconds, she began to stir. It had caught him off guard.

Minako remained silent as her body laid still on the grass. Yuuki had stumbled over to Hibiki and Minako and fell to her knees beside them. "I-Is she alive?" She murmured, wincing in pain.

"I-I think…I t-thought she was dead." Hibiki murmured.

Yuuki frowned and looked over Hibiki. "I hope she's not dead. I'd hate to see what you'd do to yourself if you lost her…" She whispered, searching Hibiki's face.

Hibiki nodded and rolled over onto his back so he was closer to Minako. He sucked in a deep breath but winced when a sharp pain hit his ribs. He let out a shaky breath and turned to look at Minako, smiling softly. The Fernu's healing proved incredible once again.

"You're…finished." Red winced as he crawled over to Masaru. "G-give up."

Masaru panted and winced as he looked at Red and then to his brothers lifeless body. Tears fell from his eyes as he closed them. "I-I give up… I just want to be with Kenji…" He whispered, biting his lip.

Red winced again. "You will be."

Masaru nodded. "Kill me... please."

Red pulled a kunai from the pouch around his leg and finally made his way to Masaru. "Gladly." He murmured before ending him quickly. The blood pooled from his throat, and his expression suddenly showed peace. Red glanced at Kenji before rolling over onto his back, letting out a cough.

Yuuki glanced back into the clearing and forced herself over to Red, collapsing beside him. "A-Are you alright, Kaito?" She whispered, wincing.

Red looked up at Yuuki and smiled before nodding. "Just exhausted."

Yuuki smiled softly before wincing again. She collapsed onto her side beside Red and let out a painful breath. "I-I just want to go home…" She whispered.

Red nodded. "Me too."

* * *

"Five beaten down, and two killed." Tsunade sighed as she stared out the window over Konohagakure. She glance over her shoulder at the remaining five, all lying in hospital beds in a row. She shook her head and returned her gaze out the window. "But the Shinobi world is protected from those two forevermore."

Yuuki groaned as she stirred awake. Her eyes glanced around when she saw Tsunade. "L-Lady H-Hokage…"

Tsunade turned to lean against the wall, turning her gaze to the now awaken Yuuki.

Yuuki gave a weak smile. "S-Sorry that you have to see us all as such…"

Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "You all did well, and there will be a memorial held in respect for Airi and Illrima. The village is grateful for you seven."

Yuuki's eyes widened. "O-Only Airi and Illrima died? M-Minako made it?" She asked, turning her gaze towards Minako's bed.

Minako's body laid peacefully on the bed. Gauze was wrapped around her neck and a few bandages covered cuts. She was breathing peacefully and Yuuki let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. I don't know what Hibiki would have done without her…"

Tsunade nodded. "She was awake an hour ago, but she decided to rest more." She smiled.

A hand reached over and gently touched Yuuki's arm. Yuuki turned her gaze to Red and smiled. "You're awake."

He nodded and smiled. "I am. How are you feeling?"

Yuuki shrugged and looked over herself. She had a broken leg and some cuts, but besides that she felt fine. "I could be better…"

Red nodded. "I'm just glad you're alive." He murmured.

Yuuki smiled. "They were definitely tough…"

A sigh came from Hibiki on the other side of the room beside Minako. "How's Hotaru?" He asked.

Tsunade frowned and made her way to Hotaru's bed which was beside Red's. She reached down and lightly touched her arm. "Not so good. She almost completely drained her chakra." She murmured.

"Almost?" Hibiki questioned and sat up in bed despite his throbbing torso. He grabbed his stomach for support.

Tsunade nodded. "She barely had any left." She sighed.

Hibiki swung his legs over the bed and stood up, using Minako's bed as support as he made his way to Hotaru's. Tsunade just shook her head. "Hibiki, you must lay back down. You're in no-"

Hibiki waved her off. "No, it's fine. Really." He stated when he made it to Hotaru's side. "You said almost."

Tsunade nodded and cautiously looked at Hibiki. "There is something I'm missing…" She said it more as a question.

Hibiki nodded. "Family secret." He winked.

"Family?" Tsunade raised a brow. "Is there some relation I know nothing about?"

Hibiki shook his head. "I know all, remember?" He smirked and turned back to Hotaru. "They always have a stored supply of chakra. It's only when their chakra hits rock bottom that it kicks in. Did she have a little bit when you first brought her in?"

Tsunade nodded.

"Was her normal chakra?" Hibiki pried.

"It felt normal." Tsunade replied.

Hibiki chuckled. "Great. I need you to drain the little it she has."

Tsunade shook her head. "I can't do that, Hibiki." she stated.

Hibiki faced her expressionless before turning back to Hotaru. He placed his hand over her stomach as his hand glowed a little red. Before Tsunade could stop him Hotaru gasped and sat upright, panting.

Hibiki smirked and turned to Tsunade. "See?"

Hotaru's eyes darted around and then laned on Hibiki. "Hibiki! Are they-"

"Everythings over. The two are dead."

Hotaru let out a sigh of relief and laid back down, her head suddenly swimming. Tsunade placed her hand on Hotaru's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Hotaru smiled weakly at Tsunade and nodded. "Haven't had to use my extra supply in a very long time." She murmured.

"I induced it. Otherwise, you'd be out for quite the while."

Hotaru nodded. "I can deal with that." She laughed softly.

"You helped a lot, thanks. We had the upper hand on the two, although Kenji seemed to be quite stronger despite the jutsu."

Hotaru nodded. "Did something happen? There was a different chakra, and it was a lot stronger then anything I even imagined."

Hibiki nodded. "Haraguroi Himitsu ended up taking Kenji completely. He took Airi and Illrima's life, and Masaru was killed after Kenji was dead."

Hotaru frowned and turned to look at the three still in their hospital beds and smiled softly. "Good job, team."

Yuuki smiled softly in return. "You did most of the work, Hotaru."

Hotaru shook her head. "I wouldn't have been able to kill them by myself."

Yuuki laughed nervously. "Still…"

Beside Yuuki's bed, Minako had began to stir and groaned in pain. Hibiki glanced at Minako and painfully made his way back to the side of her bed. "Minako?" He murmured.

Minako's eyes squeezed tightly before she opened them, wincing slightly at the bright sunlight in her eyes. "H-Hibiki?" She murmured weakly.

Hibiki smiled and reached down to caress her cheek. "I'm here."

She smiled weakly and chuckled. "I-I've never seen you so scared.." She whispered.

Hibiki sighed. "I thought I lost you." He whispered.

She laughed nervously. "I-I thought I was a goner too."

Hibiki laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. "But you're not."

Minako smiled softly as she searched Hibiki's face. "I-I saw you crying too…" She whispered with a smirk. "That's another new thing as well."

Yuuki laughed softly from beside Minako.

Hibiki sighed. "What did you expect me to do?" He murmured. "Put on a party?"

Minako laughed and shook her head before wincing at the pain in her neck. "O-Of course not. I-I'm teasing you…" She reached her hand up to rest on top of his as she leaned into the palm of his hand. "I-I love you, Hibiki."

"I love you too." He whispered and kissed her head again.

"Sorry to interrupt." Tsunade said and clasped her hands together. "Considering you all are still pretty beat up, until the doctor orders so, you will remain in the hospital a little while longer."

Both Minako and Yuuki's eyes widened as they looked to Tsunade. In unison they yelled, "Hell no! I'm not staying here!"

Tsunade, Red, and Hibiki all laughed in unison. "Sorry, but you have no choice." Tsunade smirked. "Besides, you have your lovers."

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "Mhm."

Tsunade shrugged. "You'll find someone, Hotaru. You're a beautiful young lady with an attitude." She winked.

Hotaru's expression went blank. "I don't care for men." She turned to Red and Hibiki. "No offence."

The two shook their heads.

Tsunade shrugged. "Either way, until doctors orders." She pointed her finger to the sky. "And you _will_ stay!" She smirked before leaving the room.

Yuuki smirked and sat up. "That's what she thinks…"

Red turned to look at her. _Please don't._

Yuuki turned to glance at Red and growled. _Why the hell not? I hate these places…._

_Because I want to make sure you're going to be perfectly fine before we leave. _Red replied.

Yuuki sighed before crossing her arms over her chest with a pout. _Then where's a nurse? I'm thirsty…__  
_

Red chuckled before calling out. "Nurse!"


End file.
